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THE MYTHS OF THE 
NORTH AMERICAN 
INDIANS 



THE MYTHS OF THE 

NORTH AMERICAN 

INDIANS 



BY 
LEWIS SPENCE F. R.A.I. 

AUTHOR OF "THE MYTHS OF MEXICO AND PERU" "THE 

CIVILIZATION OF ANCIENT MEXICO" " A DICTIONARY 

OF MYTHOLOGY" ETC. ETC. 



WITH THIRTY-TWO PLATES IN COLOUR BY 
JAMES JACK AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 




NEW YORK 

THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



En 



J-^^^jr 



/c 



PRiNTED AT 

THE BALLANTYNE PRESS 

LONDON ENGLAND 



PREFACE 

THE North American Indian has so long been an 
object of the deepest interest that the neglect 
of his picturesque and original mythologies and 
the tales to which they have given rise is difficult of 
comprehension. In boyhood we are wont to regard him 
as an instrument specially designed for the execution of 
tumultuous incident, wherewith heart-stirring fiction 
may be manufactured. In manhood we are too apt to 
consider him as only fit to be put aside with the matter 
of Faery and such evanescent stuff and relegated to the 
limbo of imagination. Satiated with his constant recur- 
rence in the tales of our youth, we are perhaps but too 
ready to hearken credulously to accounts which picture 
him as a disreputable vagabond, getting a precarious 
living by petty theft or the manufacture of bead orna- 
ments. 

It is, indeed, surprising how vague a picture the 
North American Indian presents to the minds of most 
people in Europe when all that recent anthropological 
research has done on the subject is taken into account. 
As a matter of fact, few books have been published in 
England which furnish more than the scantiest details 
concerning the Red Race, and these are in general scarce, 
and, when obtained, of doubtful scientific value. 

The primary object of this volume is to furnish the 
reader with a general view of the mythologies of the 
Red Man of North America, accompanied by such 
historical and ethnological information as will assist 
him in gauging the real conditions under which this 
most interesting section of humanity existed. The 
basic difference between the Indian and European 
mental outlook is insisted upon, because it is felt that 
no proper comprehension of American Indian myth or 



PREFACE 

conditions of life can be attained when such a distinc- 
tion is not recognized and allowed for. The difference 
between the view-point, mundane and spiritual, of the 
Red Man and that of the European is as vast as that 
which separates the conceptions and philosophies of the 
East and West. Nevertheless we shall find in the North 
American mythologies much that enters into the com- 
position of the immortal tales of the older religions of 
the Eastern Hemisphere. All myth, Asiatic, European, 
or American, springs from similar natural conceptions, 
and if we discover in American mythology peculiarities 
which we do not observe in the systems of Greece, Rome, 
or Egypt, we may be certain that these arise from circum- 
stances of environment and racial habit as modified by 
climate and kindred conditions alone. 

In the last thirty years much has been accomplished 
in placing the study of the American aborigines on a 
sounder basis. The older school of ethnologists were 
for the most part obsessed with the wildest ideas concern- 
ing the origin of the Indians, and many of them believed 
the Red Man to be the degenerate descendant of the 
lost Ten Tribes of Israel or of early Phoenician adven- 
turers. But these ' antiquaries ' had perforce to give 
way to a new school of students well equipped with 
scientific knowledge, whose labours, under the admirable 
direction of the United States Bureau of Ethnology, 
have borne rich fruit. Many treatises of the utmost 
value on the ethnology, mythology, and tribal customs 
of the North American Indians have been issued by 
this conscientious and enterprising State department. 
These are written by men who possess first-hand know- 
ledge of Indian life and languages, many of whom have 
faced great privations and hardships in order to collect 
the material they have published. The series is, indeed, 
a monument to that nobler type of heroism which science 



PREFACE 

can kindle in the breast of the student, and the direct, 
unembellished verbiage of these volumes conceals many 
a life-story which for quiet, unassuming bravery and 
contempt for danger will match anything in the records 
of research and human endurance. 

LEWIS SPENCE 
Edinburgh : March 19 14 



vil 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I-AGIC 

I. Divisions, Customs, and History of the Race i 

II. The Mythologies of the North American Indians 8o 

III. Algonquian Myths and Legends 141 

IV. Iroquois Myths and Legends 217 
V, Sioux Myths and Legends 266 

VI. Myths and Legends of the Pawnees 304 

VII. Myths and Legends of the Northern and North- 

western Indians 312 

Bibliography 363 

Glossary and Index 375 



iX 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Sin takes the Form of a Woodpecker FroiUispiece 

On the Lakes li 

An Elderly Omaha Beau 28 

An Earth-lodge 48 

Omaha Woman's Costume 58 

Adventure with a Totem 74 

Indian Picture-writing : A Petroglyph in Nebraska 76 

The Lenape come to the Place of Caves 78 

" Glooskap brought all his magical resources to his aid " 146 

'' He descried a great tepee" 150 

Algon carries the Captured Maiden Home to his Lodge 154 

Moowis has melted in the Sun 162 

" He rode down the wind " 168 

" ' Will you carry us over the river ? ' she asked " 174 

" He poised his spear and struck the girdle" 178 

" Gazing downward, she saw the camp of the Blackfeet" 203 

The Pursuing Head 206 

" He suddenly assumed the shape of a gigantic porcupine" 220 

'' ' I see thee ! I see thee ! Thou shalt die ' " 233 

" ' Aha ! Uncle, I see you ! ' " 240 

" He lit the pipe and placed it in the mouth of the skeleton " 244 

" The pigmies concluded that the time was ripe for killing 

them " 248 

" ' Grow larger, my kettle 1 ' " 252 

" She sang a strange, sweet song " 258 

" Soon the dancing commenced " 260 

" He jumped so high that every bone in his body was shaken " 268 

XI 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 



The War-chief kills the Monster Rattlesnake 272 

" He leaned his shoulder against the rock " 276 

"With one great step he reached the distant headland " 280 

" They arrived at the abode of the Water-god " 286 

" He emerged in his own country " 294 

" Everything happened as the Man of Wood had predicted " 298 

" Once more the Rabbit entered, disguised as a man " 302 

" He seized hold of the hair " 316 

A Fishing Expedition in Shadowland 324 

"The mists came down, and with tiiem the Supernatural 

People'' 328 

Map showing the Linguistic Stocks of the North 

American Indians :'6i 



xu 



CHAPTER I : DIVISIONS, CUSTOMS, 
AND HISTORY OF THE RACE 

The First Indians in Europe 

ALMOST immediately upon the discovery of the 
New World its inhabitants became a source of 
the greatest interest to all ranks and classes 
among the people of Europe. That this should have 
been so is not a little surprising when we remember 
the ignorance which prevailed regarding the discovery 
of the new hemisphere, and that in the popular imagina- 
tion the people of the new-found lands were considered 
to be inhabitants of those eastern countries which Euro- 
pean navigation had striven so long and so fruitlessly 
to reach. The very name * Indian ' bestowed upon the 
men from the islands of the far western ocean proves 
the ill-founded nature and falsity of the new condi- 
tions which through the discovery of Columbus were 
imposed upon the science of geography. Why all this 
intense and vivid interest in the strange beings whom 
the Genoese commander carried back with him as speci- 
mens of the population of the new-found isles ? The 
Spaniards were accustomed to the presence and sight 
of Orientals. They had for centuries dwelt side by side 
with a nation of Eastern speech and origin, and the 
things of the East held little of novelty for them. Is 
it not possible that the people, by reason of some 
natural motive difficult of comprehension, did not 
credit in their hearts the scientific conclusions of the 
day ? Something deeper and more primitive than 
science was at work in their minds, and some pro- 
found human instinct told them that the dusky and 
befeathered folk they beheld in the triumphal proces- 
sion of the Discoverer were not the inhabitants of an 
Orient with which they were more or less familiar, but 

I 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

erstwhile dwellers in a mystic continent which had 
been isolated from the rest of mankind for countless 
centuries. 

There are not wanting circumstances which go far 
to prove that instinct, brushing aside the conclusions 
of science, felt that it had rightly come upon the truth. 
The motto on the arms granted to Columbus is eloquent 
of the popular feeling when it states, 

To Castile and Leon 
Columbus gave a new world, 

and the news was greeted in London with the pro- 
nouncement that it seemed "a thing more divine than 
human " — a conclusion which could scarcely have been 
arrived at if it was considered that the reaching of the 
farthest Orient point alone had been achieved. 

The primitive and barbarous appearance of the 
Indians in the train of Columbus deeply impressed the 
people of Spain. The savage had before this event 
been merely " a legendary and heraldic animal like the 
griffin and the phoenix." In the person of the Indian 
he was presented for the first time to the astonished 
gaze of a European people, who were quick to distinguish 
the differences in feature and general appearance between 
the Red Man and the civilized Oriental — although his 
resemblance to the Tartar race was insisted upon by 
some early writers. 

Popular interest, instead of abating, grew greater, and 
with each American discovery the ' Indian ' became the 
subject of renewed controversy. Works on the origin 
and customs of the American aborigines, of ponderous 
erudition but doubtful conclusions, were eagerly perused 
and discussed. These were not any more extravagant, 
however, than many theories propounded at a much 
later date. In the early nineteenth century a school 
of enthusiastic antiquaries, perhaps the most distin- 



INDIANS AS JEWS 

guished of whom was Lord Kingsborough, determined 
upon proving the identity of the American abori- 
gines with the lost Ten Tribes of Israel, and brought 
to bear upon the subject a perfect battery of erudi- 
tion of the most extraordinary kind. His lordship's 
great work on the subject, The Antiquities of Mexico ^ 
absorbed a fortune of some fifty thousand pounds by 
its publication. The most absurd philological conclu- 
sions were arrived at in the course of these researches, 
examples of which it would but weary the reader to 
peruse. Only a shade less ridiculous were the deduc- 
tions drawn from Indian customs where these bore a 
certain surface resemblance to Hebrew rite or priestly 
usage. 

Indians as Jews 

As an example of this species of argument it will be 
sufficient to quote the following passage from a work 
published in 1879 : ^ 

"The Indian high-priest wears a breastplate made 
of a white conch-shell, and around his head either a 
wreath of swan feathers, or a long piece of swan skin 
doubled, so as to show only the snowy feathers on each 
side. These remind us of the breastplate and mitre 
of the Jewish high-priest. They have also a magic 
stone which is transparent, and which the medicine- 
men consult ; it is most jealously guarded, even from 
their own people, and Adair could never procure one. 
Is this an imitation of the Urim and Thummim ? 
Again, they have a feast of first-fruits, which they 
celebrate with songs and dances, repeating * Halelu- 
Halelu-Haleluiah ' with great earnestness and fervour. 
They dance in three circles round the fire that cooks 
these fruits on a kind of altar, shouting the praises of 

* The Migration from Shitiar, by Captain G. Palmer (London). 3 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Yo-He-Wah (Jehovah ?). These words are only used 
in their religious festivals." 

To what tribe the writer alludes is not manifest 
from the context. 

Welsh'Speaking Indians 

An ethnological connexion has been traced for the 
Red Man of North America, with equal parade ot 
erudition, to Phoenicians, Hittites, and South Sea 
Islanders. But one of the most amusing of these 
theories is that which attempts to substantiate his 
blood-relationship with the inhabitants of Wales 1 
The argument in favour of this theory is so quaint, and 
is such a capital example of the kind of learning under 
which American ethnology has groaned for generations, 
that it may be briefly examined. In the author's 
Myths of Mexico and Peru (p. 5) a short account is 
given of the legend of Madoc, son of Owen Gwyneth, 
a Welsh prince, who quitted his country in disgust at 
the manner in which his brothers had partitioned their 
father's territories. Sailing due west with several 
vessels, he arrived, says Sir Thomas Herbert in his 
Travels (1634), at the Gulf of Mexico, " not far from 
Florida," in the year 1170. After settling there he 
returned to Wales for reinforcements, and once more 
fared toward the dim West, never to be heard of more. 
But, says the chronicler, " though the Cambrian issue 
in the new found world may seeme extinct, the 
Language to this day used among these Canibals, 
together with their adoring the crosse, using Beades, 
Reliques of holy men and some other, noted in them 
of Acusano and other places, . . . points at our 
Madoc's former being there." The Cambrians, con- 
tinued Sir Thomas, left in their American colony many 
names of " Birds, Rivers, Rocks, Beasts and the like, 
4 



ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN AMERICA 

some of which words are these : Gwrando^ signifying 
in the Cambrian speech to give eare unto or hearken. 
Pen-gwyn, with us a white head, refered by the 
Mexicans to a Bird so-called, and Rockes complying 
with that Idiom. Some promontories had like de- 
nominations, called so by the people to this day, tho' 
estranged and concealed by the Spaniard. Such are 
the Isles Corroeso. The Cape of Brutaine or Brittaine. 
The floud Gvoyndowr or white water, Bara bread. 
Mam mother, Tate father, Dowr water, Bryd time, Bu 
or Buck a Cow, Clugar a Heathcocke, Llwynog a Fox, 
JVy an Egge, CalafTi Quill, Trwyn a Nose, Nef Heaven ; 
and the like then used ; by which, in my conceit, none 
save detracting Opinionatists can justly oppose such 
worthy testimonies and proofes of what I wish were 
generally allowed of." 

Antiquity of Man in America 

To turn to more substantial conclusions concerning 
the racial affinities of the Red Man, we find that it is only 
within very recent times that anything like a reasoned 
scientific argument has been arrived at. Founding 
upon recently acquired geological, anthropological, and 
linguistic knowledge, inquirers into the deeper realms of 
American ethnology have solved the question of how the 
Western Hemisphere was peopled, and the arguments 
they adduce are so convincing in their nature as to 
leave no doubt in the minds of unbiased persons. 

It is now admitted that the presence of man in the 
Old World dates from an epoch so far distant as to be 
calculated only by reference to geological periods of 
which we know the succession but not the duration, 
and research has proved that the same holds good 
of the Western Hemisphere. Although man un- 
doubtedly found his way from the Old World to the 

B 5 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

New, the period at which he did so is so remote that 
for all practical purposes he may be said to have 
peopled both hemispheres simultaneously. Indeed, 
*' his relative antiquity in each has no bearing on the 
history of his advancement." 

It is known that the American continent offers no 
example of the highly organized primates — for example, 
the larger apes — in which the Old World abounds, 
save man himself, and this circumstance is sufficient 
to prove that the human species must have reached 
America as strangers. Had man been native to the 
New World there would have been found side by side 
with him either existing or fossil representatives of 
the greater apes and other anthropoid animals which 
illustrate his pedigree in the Old World. 

The Great Miocene Bridge 

Again, many careful observers have noticed the 
striking resemblance between the natives of America 
and Northern Asia. At Bering Strait the Old World 
and the New are separated by a narrow sea-passage 
only, and an elevation of the sea-bed of less than 
two hundred feet would provide a ' land-bridge ' at 
least thirty miles in breadth between the two conti- 
nents. It is a geological fact that Bering Strait has 
been formed since the Tertiary period, and that such 
a * land-bridge ' once existed, to which American geo- 
logists have given the name of ' the Miocene bridge.' 
By this 'bridge,' it is believed, man crossed from Asia 
to America, and its subsequent disappearance confined 
him to the Western Hemisphere. 

American Man in Glacial Times 

That this migration occurred before the Glacial 
period is proved by the circumstance that chipped 
6 



AMERICAN MAN IN GLACIAL TIMES 

flints and other implements have been discovered in 
ice-drift at points in Ohio, Indiana, and Minnesota, to 
which it is known that the southern margin of the 
ice-sheet extended. This proves that man was driven 
southward by the advancing ice, as were several Old 
World animal species which had migrated to America. 
However, it is difficult in many cases to accept what 
may seem to be evidence of the presence of prehistoric 
man in North America with any degree of confidence, 
and it will be well to confine ourselves to the most 
authentic instances. In the loess of the Mississippi at 
Natchez Dr. Dickson found side by side with the 
remains of the mylodon and megalonyx human bones 
blackened by time. But Sir Charles Lyell pointed out 
that these remains might have been carried by the 
action of water from the numerous Indian places of 
burial in the neighbourhood. In New Orleans, while 
trenches were being dug for gas-pipes, a skeleton was 
discovered sixteen feet from the surface, the skull of 
which was embedded beneath a gigantic cypress-tree. 
But the deposit in which the remains were found was 
subsequently stated to be of recent origin. A reed 
mat was discovered at Petit Anse, Louisiana, at a depth 
of from fifteen to twenty feet, among a deposit of salt 
near the tusks or bones of an elephant. In the bottom- 
lands of the Bourbeuse River, in Missouri, Dr. Koch 
discovered the remains of a mastodon. It had sunk 
in the mud of the marshes, and, borne down by its 
own ponderous bulk, had been unable to right itself. 
Espied by the hunters of that dim era, it had been 
attacked by them, and the signs of their onset — flint 
arrow-heads and pieces of rock — were found mingled 
with its bones. Unable to dispatch it with their 
comparatively puny weapons, they had built great 
fires round it, the cinder-heaps of which remain to the 

7 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

height of six feet, and by this means they had pre- 
sumably succeeded in suffocating it. 

In Iowa and Nebraska Dr. Aughey found many 
evidences of the presence of early man in stone 
weapons mingled with the bones of the mastodon. In 
California, Colorado, and Wyoming scores of stone 
mortars, arrow-heads, and lance-points have been dis- 
covered in deposits which show no sign of displace- 
ment. Traces of ancient mining operations are also 
met with in California and the Lake Superior district, 
the skeletons of the primitive miners being found, 
stone hammer in hand, beneath the masses of rock 
which buried them in their fall. As the object of these 
searchers was evidently metal of some description, it 
may reasonably be inferred that the remains are of 
comparatively late date. 

The Calaveras Skull 

In 1866 Professor J. D. Whitney discovered the 
famous ' Calaveras ' skull at a depth of about a hundred 
and thirty feet in a bed of auriferous gravel on the 
western slope of the Sierra Nevada, California. The 
skull rested on a bed of lava, and was covered by 
several layers of lava and volcanic deposit. Many 
other remains were found in similar geological positions, 
and this was thought to prove that the Calaveras skull 
was not an isolated instance of the presence of man in 
America in Tertiary times. The skull resembles the 
Eskimo type, and chemical analysis discovered the 
presence of organic matter. These circumstances led to 
the conclusion that the great age claimed by Whitney 
for the relic was by no means proved, and this view 
was strengthened by the knowledge that displacements 
of the deposits in which it had been discovered had 
frequently been caused by volcanic agency. 



MORE RECENT FINDS 

More Recent Finds 

More recent finds have been summarized by an 
eminent authority connected with the United States 
Bureau of Ethnology as follows : " In a post-Glacial 
terrace on the south shore of Lake Ontario the re- 
mains of a hearth were discovered at a depth of 
twenty-two feet by Mr. Tomlinson in digging a well, 
apparently indicating early aboriginal occupancy of the 
St. Lawrence basin. From the Glacial or immediately 
post-Glacial deposits of Ohio a number of articles of 
human workmanship have been reported : a grooved 
axe from a well twenty-two feet beneath the surface, 
near New London ; a chipped object of waster type 
at Newcomerstown, at a depth of sixteen feet in Glacial 
gravel ; chipped stones in gravels, one at Madison- 
ville at a depth of eight feet, and another at Loveland 
at a depth of thirty feet. At Little Falls, Minn., 
flood-plain, deposits of sand and gravel are found to 
contain many artificial objects of quartz. This flood- 
plain is believed by some to have been finally aban- 
doned by the Mississippi well back toward the close of 
the Glacial period in the valley, but that these finds 
warrant definite conclusions as to time is seriously 
questioned by Chamberlain. In a Missouri river-beach 
near Lansing, Kansas, portions of a human skeleton 
were recently found at a depth of twenty feet, but 
geologists are not agreed as to the age of the for- 
mation. At Clayton, Mo., in a deposit believed to 
belong to the loess, at a depth of fourteen feet, a well- 
finished grooved axe was found. In the Basin Range 
region, between the Rocky Mountains and the sierras, 
two discoveries that seem to bear on the antiquity of 
human occupancy have been reported : in a silt de- 
posit in Walker River Valley, Nevada, believed to be 

9 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of Glacial age, an obsidian implement was obtained 
at a depth of twenty-five feet ; at Nampa, Idaho, a 
clay image is reported to have been brought up by a 
sand-pump from a depth of three hundred and twenty 
feet in alternating beds of clay and quicksand under- 
lying a lava flow of late Tertiary or early Glacial age. 
Questions are raised by a number of geologists respecting 
the value of these finds." 

Later Man in America 

Whatever doubt attaches to the presence of man in 
America during the Tertiary period — a doubt which is 
not shared by most American archaeologists — there is 
none regarding his occupation of the entire continent 
in times less remote, yet far distant from the dawn of 
the earliest historical records of Asia or Europe. In 
caves and * kitchen-middens ' or rubbish-heaps over 
the entire length and breadth of the American conti- 
nent numerous evidences of the presence of populous 
centres have been discovered. Mingled with the shells 
of molluscs and the bones of extinct animals human 
remains, weapons, and implements are to be found, 
with traces of fire, which prove that the men of those 
early days had risen above the merely animal existence 
led by the first-comers to American soil. 

Affinities with Siberian Peoples 

As has already been indicated, careful observers 
have repeatedly remarked upon the strong likeness 
between the American races and those of North- 
eastern Asia. This likeness is not only physical, but 
extends to custom, and to some extent to religious 
belief. 

" The war-dances and medicine customs of the 
Ostiaks resemble those of the Kolusches even to the 

10 



AFFINITIES WITH SIBERIAN PEOPLES 

smallest details, and the myth of a heaven-climber, who 
ascends the sky from a lofty tree, lowering himself again 
to earth by a strip of leather, a rope of grass, a plait of 
hair, or the curling wreath of smoke from a hut, occurs 
not only among the Ugrian tribes, but among the 
Dogrib Indians. Such myths, it is contended, though 
insufficient to prove common descent, point to early 
communications between these distant stocks. Super- 
stitious usages, on the other hand, it is argued, are 
scarcely likely to have been adopted in consequence of 
mere intercourse, and indicate a common origin. Thus, 
among the Itelmians of Kamchatka it is forbidden to 
carry a burning brand otherwise than in the fingers ; 
it must on no account be pierced for that purpose 
with the point of a knife. A similar superstition is 
cherished by the Dakota. Again, when the tribes of 
Hudson Bay slay a bear they daub the head with gay 
colours, and sing around it hymns having a religious 
character ; it is understood to symbolize the spirit of 
the deceased animal. A similar practice, it is said, 
prevails throughout Siberia, and is met with among 
the Gilyaks of the Amur, and the Ainu. The Ostiaks 
hang the skin of a bear on a tree, pay it the profoundest 
respect, and address it while imploring pardon of the 
spirit of the animal for having put it to death ; their 
usual oath, moreover, is ' by the bear,' as the polished 
Athenians habitually swore 'by the dog.' Earthen 
vessels, it is further urged, were manufactured not 
only by the Itelmians, but by the Aleutians and the 
Kolusches of the New World ; whereas the Assiniboins, 
settled farther to the southward, cooked their flesh in 
kettles of hide, into which red-hot stones were cast to 
heat the water." ^ 

^ Payne, History of the New World, ii. 87-88, summarizing the 
investigations of Peschel and Tylor. 

II 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Evidence of American Languages 

The structure of the aboriginal languages of America 
corroborates the conclusion that the American race 
proceeded from one instead of several sources, and that 
it is an ethnological extension of North-eastern Asia. 
Not only does the * machinery' of American speech 
closely resemble that of the neighbouring Asiatic races 
in the possession of a common basis of phonesis and 
strenuity, but the rejection of labial explodents, which 
extends from Northern Asia through the speech of the 
Aleutian Islands to North-western America, is good 
evidence of affinity. 

Evidences of Asiatic Intercourse 

Evidences of Asiatic intercourse with America in 
recent and historical times are not wanting. It is a 
well-authenticated fact that the Russians had learned 
from the native Siberians of the whereabouts of 
America long before the discovery of the contiguity of 
the continents by Bering. Charlevoix, in his work on 
the origin of the Indians, states that Pere Grellon, one 
of the French Jesuit Fathers, encountered a Huron 
woman on the plains of Tartary who had been sold 
from tribe to tribe until she had passed from Bering 
Strait into Central Asia. Slight though such incidents 
seem, it is by means of them that important truths 
may be gleaned. If one individual was exchanged 
in this manner, there were probably many similar 
cases. 

Later Migrations 

There are theories in existence worthy of respect 
which would regard the North American Indians as 
the last and recent wave of many Asiatic migrations to 

12 




On the Lakes 



THE NORSEMEN IN AMERICA 

American soil. If credence can be extended to the 
Norse sagas which describe the visits of tenth-century 
Scandinavian voyagers to the eastern coasts of America, 
the accounts given of the race encountered by these 
early discoverers by no means tally with any possible 
description of the Red Man. The viking seafarers 
nicknamed the American natives Skr^lingr^ or * Chips,' 
because of their puny appearance, and the account 
which they gave of them would seem to class them as 
a folk possessing Eskimo affinities. Many remains dis- 
covered in the eastern States are of the Eskimo type, 
and when one combines with this the Indian traditions 
of a great migration — traditions which cannot have 
survived for many generations — it will be seen that 
the exact epoch of the entrance of the Red Man into 
America is by no means finally settled. 

The Norsemen in America 

As the visits of the Norsemen to America during 
the tenth century have been alluded to, perhaps some 
further reference to this absorbing subject may be 
made, as it is undoubtedly germane to the question of 
the identity of the pre-lndian inhabitants of eastern 
North America. The Scandinavian colonization of 
Iceland tempted the intrepid viking race to extend 
their voyages into still more northerly waters, and this 
resulted in the discovery of Greenland. Once settled 
upon those dreary beaches, it was practically inevit- 
able that the hardy seamen would speedily discover 
American soil. Biarne Herjulfson, sailing from Ice- 
land to Greenland without knowledge of the waters 
he navigated, was caught in dense fog and shifting 
wind, so that he knew not in what direction he sailed. 
" Witless, methinks, is our forth-faring," laughed the 
stout Norseman, " seeing that none of us has beheld 

13 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

the Greenland sea." Holding doggedly on, however, 
the adventurers came at last in sight of land. But 
this was no country of lofty ice such as they had been 
told to expect. A land of gentle undulations covered 
with timber met their sea-sad eyes. Bearing away, 
they came to another land like the first. The wind 
fell, and the sailors proposed to disembark. But Biarne 
refused. Five days afterward they made Greenland. 
Biarne had, of course, got into that Arctic current 
which sets southward from the Polar Circle between 
Iceland and Greenland, and had been carried to the 
coasts of New England.^ 

Leif the Lucky 

Biarne did not care to pursue his discoveries, but at 
the court of Eric, Earl of Norway, to which he paid 
a visit, his neglect in following them up was much 
talked about. All Greenland, too, was agog with the 
news. Leif, surnamed ' the Lucky,' son of Eric the 
Red, the first colonizer of Greenland, purchased Biarne's 
ship, and, hiring a crew of thirty-five men, one of whom 
was a German named Tyrker (perhaps Tydsker, the 
Norse for ' German '), set sail for the land seen by Biarne. 
He soon espied it, and cast anchor, but it was a barren 
place ; so they called it Hellu-land, or * Land of Flat 
Stones,' and, leaving it, sailed southward again. Soon 
they came to another country, which they called Mark- 
land, or * Wood-land,' for it was low and flat and well 
covered with trees. These shores also they left, and 
again put to sea. 

The Land of "Wine 

After sailing still farther south they came to a strait 
lying between an island and a promontory. Here they 

^ Rafn, Antiquitates Americana, xxix. 17-25. 
H 



THE SKR^LINGR 

landed and built huts. The air was warm after the 
sword-like winds of Greenland, and when the day was 
shortest the sun was above the horizon from half-past 
seven in the morning until half-past four in the after- 
noon. They divided into two bands to explore the 
land. One day Tyrker, the German, was missing. 
They searched for him, and found him at no great 
distance from the camp, in a state of much excitement. 
For he had discovered vines with grapes upon them — 
a boon to a man coming from a land of vines, who 
had beheld none for half a lifetime. They loaded the 
ship's boat with the grapes and felled timber to freight 
the ship, and in the spring sailed away from the new- 
found country, which they named ' Wine-land.' 

It would seem that the name Hellu-land was applied 
to Newfoundland or Labrador, Mark-land to Nova 
Scotia, and Wine-land to New England, and that Leif 
wintered in some part of the state of Rhode Island. 

The Skraelingf 

In the year 1002 Leif's brother Thorwald sailed to 
the new land in Biarne's ship. From the place where 
Leif had landed, which the Norsemen named * Leif's 
Booths ' (or huts), he explored the country southward 
and northward. But at a promontory in the neigh- 
bourhood of Boston he was attacked and slain by the 
Skraelingr who inhabited the country. These men are 
described as small and dwarfish in appearance and as 
possessing Eskimo characteristics. In 1007 a bold 
attempt was made to colonize the country from Green- 
land. Three ships, with a hundred and sixty men 
aboard, sailed to Wine-land, where they wintered, but 
the incessant attacks of the Skraslingr rendered coloni- 
zation impossible, and the Norsemen took their depar- 
ture. The extinction of the Scandinavian colonies 

15 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

in Greenland put an end to all communication with 
America. But the last voyage from Greenland to Ameri- 
can shores took place in 1347, only a hundred and 
forty-five years before Columbus discovered the West 
Indian Islands. In 141 8 the Skraelingr of Greenland 
— the Eskimo — attacked and destroyed the Norse 
settlements there, and carried away the colonists into 
captivity. It is perhaps the descendants of these Norse 
folk who dared the world of ice and the ravening 
breakers of the Arctic sea who have been discovered by 
a recent Arctic explorer ! ^ 

The authenticity of the Norse discoveries is not to be 
questioned. No less than seventeen ancient Icelandic 
documents allude to them, and Adam of Bremen men- 
tions the territory discovered by them as if referring 
to a widely known country. 

The Dighton Rock 

A rock covered with inscriptions, known as the Digh- 
ton Writing Rock, situated on the banks of the Taunton 
River, in Massachusetts, was long pointed out as of 
Norse origin, and Rafn, the Danish antiquary, pro- 
nounced the script which it bore to be runic. With 
equal perspicacity Court de Gobelin and Dr. Styles saw 
in it a Phoenician inscription. It is, in fact, quite certain 
that the writing is of Indian origin, as similar rock- 
carvings occur over the length and breadth of the 
northern sub-continent. Almost as doubtful are the 
theories which would make the ' old mill ' at Newport 
a Norse * biggin.' However authentic the Norse 
settlements in America may be, it is certain that the 
Norsemen left no traces of their occupation in that 
continent, and although the building at Newport dis- 
tinctly resembles the remains of Norse architecture in 

1 See Eric Rothens Saga, in Mueller, Sagenbibliothek, p. 214. 
16 



MOUNDS IN ANIMAL FORM 

Greenland, the district in which it is situated is quite 
out of the sphere of Norse settlement in North 
America. 

The Mound'Buildcrs 

The question of the antiquity of the Red Race in 
North America is bound up with an archaeological 
problem which bristles with difficulties, but is quite 
as replete with interest. In the Mississippi basin and 
the Gulf States, chiefly from La Crosse, Wisconsin, to 
Natchez, Miss., and in the central and southern 
districts of Ohio, and in the adjoining portion of 
Indiana and South Wisconsin, are found great earthen 
mounds, the typical form of which is pyramidal. Some, 
however, are circular, and a few pentagonal. Others 
are terraced, extending outward from one or two sides, 
while some have roadways leading up to the level sur- 
face on the summit. These are not mere accumulations 
of debris J but works constructed on a definite plan, and 
obviously requiring a considerable amount of skill and 
labour for their accomplishment. " The form, except 
where worn down by the plough, is usually that of a 
low, broad, round-topped cone, varying in size from a 
scarcely perceptible swell in the ground to elevations of 
eighty or even a hundred feet, and from six to three 
hundred feet in diameter." ^ 

Mounds in Animal Form 

Many of these structures represent animal forms, 
probably the totem or eponymous ancestor of the tribe 
which reared them. The chief centre for these singular 
erections seems to have been Wisconsin, where they are 
very numerous. The eagle, wolf, bear, turtle, and fox 
are represented, and even the human form has been 

^ Bulletin 30, Bureau of American Ethnology. 

17 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

attempted. There are birds with outstretched wings, 
measuring more than thirty-two yards from tip to tip, 
and great mammalian forms sixty-five yards long. Rep- 
tilian forms are also numerous. These chiefly represent 
huge lizards. At least one mound in the form of a 
spider, whose body and legs cover an acre of ground, 
exists in Minnesota. 

According to the classification of Squier, these struc- 
tures were employed for burial, sacrifice, and observa- 
tion, and as temple-sites. Other structures often found 
in connexion with them are obviously enclosures, and 
were probably used for defence. The conical mounds 
are usually built of earth and stones, and are for the 
most part places of sepulture. The flat-topped struc- 
tures were probably employed as sites for buildings, 
such as temples, council-houses, and chiefs' dwellings. 
Burials were rarely made in the wall-like enclosures or 
effigy mounds. Many of the enclosures are of true 
geometrical figure, circular, square, or octagonal, and 
with few exceptions these are found in Ohio and the 
adjoining portions of Kentucky, Indiana, and West 
Virginia. They enclose an expanse varying from one to 
a hundred acres. 

What the Mounds Contain 

In the sepulchral mounds a large number of objects 
have been found which throw some light on the habits 
of the folk who built them. Copper plates with 
stamped designs are frequent, and these are difficult to 
account for. In one mound were found no less than six 
hundred stone hatchet-blades, averaging seven inches 
long by four wide. Under another were exhumed two 
hundred calcined tobacco-pipes, and copper ornaments 
with a thin plating of silver ; while from others were 
taken fragments of pottery, obsidian implements, ivory 
i8 



THE TOMB OF THE BLACK TORTOISE 

and bone needles, and scroll-work cut out of very thin 
plates of mica. In several it was observed that crema- 
tion had been practised, but in others the bodies were 
found extended horizontally or else doubled up. In 
some instances the ashes of the dead had been placed 
carefully in skulls, perhaps those of the individuals 
whose bodies had been given to the flames. Implements, 
too, arc numerous, and axes, awls, and other tools of 
copper have frequently been discovered. 

The Tomb of the Black Tortoise 

A more detailed description of one of these groups 
of sepulchral mounds may furnish the reader with a 
clearer idea of the structures as a whole. The group 
in question was discovered in Minnesota, on the 
northern bank of St, Peter's River, about sixty miles 
from its junction with the Mississippi. It includes 
twenty-six mounds, placed at regular distances from 
each other, and forming together a large rectangle. 
The central mound represents a turtle forty feet long 
by twenty-seven feet wide and twelve feet high. It is 
almost entirely constructed of yellow clay, which is not 
found in the district, and therefore must have been 
brought from a distance. Two mounds of red earth 
of triangular form flank it north and south, and each of 
these is twenty-seven feet long by about six feet wide 
at one end, the opposite end tapering off^ until it scarcely 
rises above the level of the soil. At each corner rises 
a circular mound twelve feet high by twenty-five feet 
in diameter. East and west of the structure stand 
two elongated mounds sixty feet long, with a diameter 
of twelve feet. Two smaller mounds on the right 
and left of the turtle-shaped mound are each twelve 
feet long by four feet high, and consist of white sand 
mixed with numerous fragments of mica, covered with 

19 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIAr^S 

a layer of clay and a second one of vegetable mould. 
Lastly, thirteen smaller mounds fill in the intervals in 
the group. 

Conant gives an explanation of the whole group as 
follows : " The principal tomb would be the last home 
of a great chief, the Black Tortoise. The four mounds 
which form the corners of the quadrangle were also 
erected as a sign of the mourning of the tribe. The 
secondary mounds are the tombs of other chiefs, and the 
little mounds erected in the north and south corre- 
sponded with the number of bodies which had been 
deposited in them. The two pointed mounds indicate 
that the Black Tortoise was the last of his race, and the 
two large mounds the importance of that race and the 
dignity which had belonged to it. Lastly, the two 
mounds to the right and left of the royal tomb mark 
the burial-places of the prophets or soothsayers, who 
even to our own day play a great part among the Indian 
tribes. The fragments of mica found in their tombs 
would indicate their rank."^ 

Who were the Mound-Builders? 

It is not probable that the reader will agree with all 
the conclusions drawn in the paragraph quoted above, 
which would claim for these structures a hieroglyphic 
as well as a sepulchral significance. But such specu- 
lations cannot destroy the inherent interest of the 
subject, however much they may irritate those who 
desire to arrive at logical conclusions concerning it. 
Who then were the folk who raised the mounds of 
Ohio and the Mississippi and spread their culture from 
the Gulf states region to the Great Lakes ^ Needless 
to say, the ' antiquaries ' of the last century stoutly 
maintained that they were strangers from over the sea, 
^ FooiJ>7-ints of Vanished Races, p. 1 8. 

20 



WHO WERE THE MOUND-BUILDERS ? 

sun- and serpent-worshippers who had forsaken the 
cities of Egypt, Persia, and Phoenicia, and had settled 
in the West in order to pursue their strange religions 
undisturbed. But such a view by no means commends 
itself to modern science, which sees in the architects of 
these mounds and pyramids the ancestors of the present 
aborigines of North America. Many of the objects 
discovered in the mounds are of European manufac- 
ture, or prove contact with Europeans, which shows 
that the structures containing them are of com- 
paratively modern origin. The articles discovered 
and the character of the various monuments indicate 
a culture stage similar to that noted among the 
more advanced tribes inhabiting the regions where 
the mounds occur at the period of the advent of the 
whites. Moreover, the statements of early writers 
on these regions, such as the members of De Soto's 
expedition, prove beyond question that some of the 
structures were erected by the Indians in post- 
Columbian times. " It is known that some of the 
tribes inhabiting the Gulf states, when De Soto passed 
through their territory in 1540—41, as the Yuchi, 
Creeks, Chickasaw, and Natchez, were still using and 
probably constructing mounds, and that the Quapaw 
of Arkansas were also using them. There is also 
documentary evidence that the ' Texas ' tribe still used 
mounds at the end of the seventeenth century, when 
a chiefs house is described as being built on one. 
There is also sufficient evidence to justify the con- 
clusion that the Cherokee and Shawnee were mound- 
builders. . . . According to Miss Fletcher, the 
Winnebago build miniature mounds in the lodge 
during certain ceremonies."^ 

Nothing has been found in the mounds to indicate 
^ Bulletin JO, Bureau of American Ethnology. 

C 21 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

great antiquity, and the present tendency among archaeo- 
logists is to assign to them a comparatively recent origin. 

The * Nations* of North America 

In order that the reader may be enabled the better 
to comprehend the history and customs of the Red 
Race in North America, it will be well at this juncture 
to classify the various ethnic stocks of which it is 
composed. Proceeding to do so on a linguistic basis — 
the only possible guide in this instance — we find that 
students of American languages, despite the diversity 
of tongues exhibited in North America, have referred 
all of these to ten or a dozen primitive stems.^ Let us 
first examine the geographical position of the * nations ' 
of the American aborigines in the sixteenth century, 
at the period of the advent of the white man, whilst 
yet they occupied their ancestral territory. 

The Athapascan stock extended in a broad band 
across the continent from the Pacific to Hudson Bay, 
and almost to the Great Lakes below. Tribes cognate 
to it wandered far north to the mouth of the Mackenzie 
River, and, southward, skirted the Rockies and the 
coast of Oregon south of the estuary of the Columbia 
River, and spreading over the plains of New Mexico, 
as Apaches, Navahos, and Lipans, extended almost to 
the tropics. The Athapascan is the most widely 
distributed of all the Indian linguistic stocks of North 
America, and covered a territory of more than forty 
degrees of latitude and seventy-five degrees of longi- 
tude. Its northern division was known as the Tinneh 
or Dene, and consisted of three groups — eastern, 
north-western, and south-western, dwelling near the 
Rockies, in the interior of Alaska, and in the 
mountain fastnesses of British America respectively. 
^ See the map, p. 361. 



THE IROQUOIS 

The Pacific division occupied many villages in a strip 
of territory about four hundred miles in length from 
Oregon to Eel River in California. The southern 
division occupied a large part of Arizona and New 
Mexico, the southern portion of Utah and Colorado, 
the western borders of Kansas, and the northern part of 
Mexico to lat. 25°. The social conditions and customs 
as well as the various dialects spoken by the several 
branches and offshoots of this great family differed 
considerably according to climate and environment. 
Extremely adaptable, the Athapascan stock appear to 
have adopted many of the customs and ceremonies of 
such tribes as they were brought into contact with, and 
do not seem to have had any impetus to frame a culture 
of their own. Their tribes had little cohesion, and 
were subdivided into family groups or loose bands, 
which recognized a sort of patriarchal government and 
descent. Their food-supply was for the most part 
precarious, as it consisted almost entirely of the pro- 
ceeds of hunting expeditions, and the desperate and 
never-ending search for provender rendered this people 
somewhat narrow and material in outlook. 

The Iroquois 

The Iroquois — Hurons, Tuscaroras, Susquehannocks, 
Nottoways, and others — occupied much of the country 
from the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario to the 
Roanoke. Several of their tribes banded themselves into 
a confederacy known as the * Five Nations,' and these 
comprised the Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas,Onondagas, 
and Senecas. The Cherokees, dwelling in the valleys of 
East Tennessee, appear to have been one of the early 
offshoots of the Iroquois. A race of born warriors, they 
pursued their craft with an excess of cruelty which made 
them the terror of the white settler. It was with the 

23 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Iroquois that most of the early colonial wars were 
waged, and their name, which they borrowed from the 
Algonquins, and which signifies * Real Adders,' was 
probably no misnomer. They possessed chiefs who, 
strangely enough, were nominated by the matrons of 
the tribe, whose decision was confirmed by the tribal 
and federal councils. The * Five Nations ' of the 
Iroquois made up the Iroquois Confederacy, which 
was created about the year 1570, as the last of a series 
of attempts to unite the tribes in question. The 
Mohawks, so conspicuous in colonial history, are one 
of their sub-tribes. Many of the Iroquoian tribes 
" have been settled by the Canadian Government on 
a reservation on Grand River, Ontario, where they 
still reside. . . . All the Iroquois [in the United 
States] are in reservations in New York, with the 
exception of the Oneida, who are settled in Green 
Bay, Wisconsin. The so-called Seneca, of Oklahoma, 
are composed of the remnants of many tribes . . . and 
of emigrants from all the tribes of the Iroquoian 
Confederation." In 1689 the Iroquois were estimated 
to number about twelve thousand, whereas in 1904 
they numbered over sixteen thousand. 

The Algonquins 

The Algonquian 1 family surrounded the Iroquois on 
every side, and extended westward toward the Rocky 
Mountains, where one of their famous offshoots, the 
Blackfeet, gained a notoriety which has rendered them 
the heroes of many a boyish tale. They were milder 
than the Iroquois, and less Spartan in habits. Their 

^ This name has been adopted to distinguish the Jatnily from the 
tribal name, * Algonquin ' or * Algonkin,' but is not employed when 
speaking of individuals. Thus we speak of 'the Algonquian race,' 
but, on the other hand, of ' an Algonquin Indian.' 
24 



THE ALGONQUINS 

western division comprised the Blackfeet, Arapaho, 
and Cheyenne, situated near the eastern slope of the 
Rocky Mountains ; the northern division, situated for 
the most part to the north of the St. Lawrence, com- 
prised the Chippeways and Crees ; the north-eastern 
division embraced the tribes inhabiting Quebec, the 
Maritime Provinces, and Maine, including the Mon- 
tagnais and Micmacs ; the central division, dwelling in 
Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, 
included the Foxes, Kickapoos, Menominees, and 
others ; and the eastern division embraced all the 
Algonquian tribes that dwelt along the Atlantic coast, 
the Abnaki, Narragansets, Nipmucs, Mohicans (or 
Mohegans), Shawnees, Delawares, and Powhatans. 

The Algonquins were the first Indians to come into 
contact with the white man. As a rule their relations 
with the French were friendly, but they were frequently 
at war with the English settlers. The eastern branch 
of the race were quickly defeated and scattered, their 
remnants withdrawing to Canada and the Ohio valley. 
Of the smaller tribes of New England, Virginia, and 
other eastern states there are no living representatives, 
and even their languages are extinct, save for a few 
words and place-names. The Ohio valley tribes, with 
the Wyandots, formed themselves into a loose con- 
federacy and attempted to preserve the Ohio as an 
Indian boundary; but in 1794 they were finally defeated 
and forced to cede their territory. Tecumseh, an 
Algonquin chief, carried on a fierce war against the 
United States for a number of years, but by his defeat 
and death at Tippecanoe in 1 8 1 1 the spirit of the Indians 
was broken, and the year 18 15 saw the commencement 
of a series of Indian migrations westward, and a whole- 
sale cession of Indian territory which continued over a 
period of about thirty years. 

25 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

A Sedentary People 

The Algonquins had been for generations the victims 
of the Iroquois Confederacy, and only when the French 
had guaranteed them immunity from the attacks of their 
hereditary enemies did they set their faces to the east 
once more, to court repulse a second time at the hands 
of the English settlers. Tall and finely proportioned, 
the Algonquins were mainly a sedentary and agricultural 
people, growing maize and wild rice for their staple 
foods. Indeed, more than once were the colonists of 
New England saved from famine by these industrious 
folk. In 1792 Wayne's army found a continuous 
plantation along the entire length of the Maumee River 
from Fort Wayne to Lake Erie, and such evidence 
entirely shatters the popular fallacy that the Indian race 
were altogether lacking in the virtues of industry and 
domesticity. They employed fish-shells and ashes as 
fertilizers, and made use of spades and hoes. And it 
was the Algonquins who first instilled in the white 
settlers the knowledge of how to prepare those succulent 
dainties for which New England is famous — hominy, 
succotash, maple-sugar, and johnny-cake. They possessed 
the art of tanning deerskin to a delicate softness which 
rendered it a luxurious and delightful raiment, and, 
like the Aztecs, they manufactured mantles of feather- 
work. They had also elaborated a system of picture- 
writing. In short, they were the most intelligent and 
advanced of the eastern tribes, and had their civiliza- 
tion been permitted to proceed unhindered by white 
aggression and the recurring inroads of their hereditary 
enemies, the Iroquois, it would probably have evolved 
into something resembling that of the Nahua of Mexico, 
without, perhaps, exhibiting the sanguinary fanaticism 
of that people. The great weakness of the Algonquian 
26 



THE MUSKHOGEAN RACE 

stock was a lack of solidity of character, which prevented 
them from achieving a degree of tribal organization and 
cohesion sufficient to enable them to withstand their 
foes. 

The Muskhogean Race 

The Muskhogean race included theChoctaws,Chicka- 
saws, Creeks, and Seminoles, who occupied territory in 
the Gulf states east of the Mississippi, possessing almost 
all of Mississippi and Alabama, and portionsof Tennes- 
see, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Many early 
notices of this people are extant. They were met by 
Narvaez in Florida in 1528, and De Soto passed 
through their territory in 1 540-41 . By 1 700 the entire 
Apalachee, tribe had been civilized and Christianized, 
and had settled in seven large and well-built towns. 
But the tide of white settlement gradually pressed the 
Muskhogean tribes backward from the coast region, and 
though they fought stoutly to retain their patrimony, 
few of the race remain ^in their native area, the majo- 
rity having been removed to the tribal reservation in 
Oklahoma before 1840. They were an agricultural and 
sedentary people, occupying villages of substantially 
built dwellings. A curious diversity, both physical and 
mental, existed among the several tribes of which the race 
was composed. They possessed a general council formed 
of representatives from each town, who met annually or 
as occasion required. Artificial deformation of the skull 
was practised by nearly all of the Muskhogean tribes, 
chiefly by the Choctaws, who were called by the 
settlers ' Flatheads.' The Muskhogean population at 
the period of its first contact with the whites has been 
estimated at some fifty thousand souls. In 1905 they 
numbered rather more, but this estimate included about 
fifteen thousand freedmen of negro blood. 

27 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Sioux 

The Siouan or Dakota stock — Santees, Yanktons, 
Assmiboins,and Tetons — inhabited a territory extending 
from Saskatchewan to Louisiana. They are the highest 
type, physically, mentally, and morally, of any of the 
western tribes, and their courage is unquestioned. They 
dwelt in large bands or groups. " Personal fitness and 
popularity determined chieftainship. . . . The authority 
of the chief was limited by the band council, without 
whose approbation little or nothing could be accom- 
plished. War parties were recruited by individuals 
who had acquired reputation as successful leaders, 
while the shamans formulated ceremonials and farewells 
for them. Polygamy was common. . . . Remains of 
the dead were usually, though not invariably, placed 
on scaffolds." ^ 

Caddoan Family 

The Caddoan family comprises three geographic 
groups, the northern, represented by the Arikara, the 
middle, embracing the Pawnee Confederacy, once 
dwelling in Nebraska, and the southern group, includ- 
ing the Caddo, Kichai, and Wichita. Once numerous, 
this division of the Red Race is now represented by a 
few hundreds of individuals only, who are settled in 
Oklahoma and North Dakota. The Caddo tribes were 
cultivators of the soil as well as hunters, and practised 
the arts of pottery-making and tanning. They lacked 
political ability and were loosely confederated. 

The Shoshoneans 

The Shoshoneans or * Snake ' family of Nevada, Utah, 

and Idaho comprise the Root-diggers, Comanches, and 

^ Bulletin jo, Bureau of American Ethnology. 
28 




An Elderly Omaha Beau 

By permission of the Bureau of American Ethnology 



28 



EARLY WARS WITH THE WHITES 

other tribes of low culture. These people, it is said, 
" are probably nearer the brutes than any other portion 
of the human race on the face of the globe." " Yet these 
debased creatures speak a related dialect and partake 
in some measure of the same blood as the famous 
Aztec race who founded the empire of Anahuac, and 
raised architectural monuments rivalling the most 
famous structures of the ancient world." ^ 

Early Wars with the Whites 

Numerous minor wars between the Indians and the 
colonists followed upon the settlement of Virginia, but 
on the whole the relations between them were peaceable 
until the general massacre of white women and children 
on March 22, 1622, while the men of the colony were 
working in the fields. Three hundred and forty- 
seven men, women, and children were slain in a single 
day. This holocaust was the signal for an Indian war 
which continued intermittently for many years and 
cost the colonists untold loss in blood and treasure. 
Inability to comprehend each other's point of view was 
of course a fertile source of irritation between the 
races, and even colonists who had ample opportunities 
for observing and studying the Indians during a long 
course of years appear to have been incapable of under- 
standing their outlook and true character. The dis- 
honesty of white traders, on the other hand, aroused 
the Indian to a frenzy of childish indignation. It was 
a native saying that " One pays for another," and when 
an Indian was slain his nearest blood-relation con- 
sidered that he had consummated a righteous revenge 
by murdering the first white man whom he met or 
waylaid. Each race accused the other of treachery 
and unfairness. Probably the colonists, despite their 

^ Brinton, Mphs of the Neiv World. 

29 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

veneer of civilization, were only a little less ignorant 
than, and as vindictively cruel as, the barbarians with 
whom they strove. The Indian regarded the colonist 
as an interloper who had come to despoil him of the 
land of his fathers, while the Virginian Puritan con- 
sidered himself the salt of the earth and the Indian 
as a heathen or * Ishmaelite ' sent by the Powers of 
Darkness for his discomfiture, whom it was an act of 
both religion and policy to destroy. Vengeful ferocity 
was exhibited on both sides. Another horrible mas- 
sacre of five hundred whites in 1644 was followed by 
the defeat of the Indians who had butchered the 
colonists. Shortly before that event the Pequot tribe 
in Connecticut had a feud with the English traders, 
and tortured such of them as they could lay hands on. 
The men of Connecticut, headed by John Mason, a 
military veteran, marched into the Pequot country, 
surrounded the village of Sassacus, the Pequot chief, 
gave it to the flames, and slaughtered six hundred of 
its inhabitants. The tribe was broken up, and the 
example of their fate so terrified the other Indian 
peoples that New England enjoyed peace for many 
years after. 

King Philip's War 

The Dutch of New York were at one period almost 
overwhelmed by the Indians in their neighbourhood, 
and in 1656 the Virginians sufi^ered a severe defeat in 
a battle with the aborigines at the spot where Richmond 
now stands. In 1675 there broke out in New England 
the great Indian war known as King Philip's War. 
Philip, an Indian chief, complained bitterly that those 
of his subjects who had been converted to Christianity 
were withdrawn from his control, and he made vigorous 
war on the settlers, laying many of their towns in 
30 



THE RESERVATIONS 

ashes. But victory was with the colonists at the battle 
called the * Swamp Fight,' and Philip and his men 
were scattered. 

Captain Benjamin Church it was who first taught 
the colonists to fight the Indians in their own manner. 
He moved as stealthily as the savages themselves, and, to 
avoid an alarm, never allowed an Indian to be shot who 
could be reached with the hatchet. The Indians who 
were captured were sold into slavery in the West India 
Islands, where the hard labour and change of climate 
were usually instrumental in speedily putting an end to 
their servitude. 

Step by step the Red Man was driven westward 
until he vanished from the vicinity of the earlier settle- 
ments altogether. From that period the history of 
his conflicts with the whites is bound up with the 
records of their western extension. 

The Reservations 

The necessity of bringing the Indian tribes under 
the complete control of the United States Government 
and confining them to definite limits for the better 
preservation of order was responsible for the policy of 
placing them on tracts of territory of their own called 
* reservations.' This step led the natives to realize the 
benefits of a settled existence and to depend on their 
own industry for a livelihood rather than upon the 
more precarious products of the chase. An Act of 
Congress was passed in 1887 which put a period to 
the existence of the Indian tribes as separate com- 
munities, and permitted all tribal lands and reservations 
to be so divided that each individual member of a tribe 
might possess a separate holding. Many of these 
holdings are of considerable value, and the possessors 
arc by no means poorly endowed with this world's 

31 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

goods. On the whole the policy of the United States 
toward the Indians has been dictated by justice and 
humanity, but instances have not been wanting in which 
arid lands have been foisted upon the Indians, and the 
pressure of white settlers has frequently forced the 
Government to dispossess the Red Man of the land 
that had originally been granted to him. 

The Story of Pocahontas 

Many romantic stories are told concerning the 
relations of the early white settlers with the Indians. 
Among the most interesting is that of Pocahontas, the 
daughter of the renowned Indian chief Powhatan, the 
erstwhile implacable enemy of the whites. Pocahontas, 
who as a child had often played with the young colonists, 
was visiting a certain chief named Japazaws, when 
an English captain named Argall bribed him with a 
copper kettle to betray her into his hands. Argall took 
her a captive to Jamestown. Here a white man by the 
name of John Rolfe married her, after she had received 
Christian baptism. This marriage brought about a 
peace between Powhatan and the English settlers in 
Virginia. 

When Dale went back to England in 1616 he took 
with him some of the Indians. Pocahontas, who was 
now called ' the Lady Rebecca,' and her husband accom- 
panied the party. Pocahontas was called a princess in 
England, and received much attention. But when about 
to return to the colony she died, leaving a little son. 

The quaint version of Captain Nathaniel Powell, 
which retains all the known facts of Pocahontas' story, 
states that " During this time, the Lady Rebecca, alias 
Pocahontas, daughter to Powhatan, by the diligent care 
of Master John Rolfe her husband, and his friends, 
was taught to speak such English as might well be 
32 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS 

understood, well instructed in Christianity, and was 
become very formal and civil after our English manner ; 
she had also by him a child which she loved most 
dearly, and the Treasurer and Company took order 
both for the maintenance of her and it, besides there 
were divers persons of great rank and quality had been 
kind to her ; and before she arrived at London, Captain 
Smith, to deserve her former courtesies, made her 
qualities known to the Queen's most excellent Majesty 
and her Court, and wrote a little book to this effect to 
the Queen : An abstract whereof follows : 

" * To the Most High and Virtuous Princess^ Queen 
Anne of Great Britain 
"' Most admired Queen, 

" ' The love I bear my God, my King and 
Country, hath so oft emboldened me in the worst of 
extreme dangers, that now honesty doth constrain me 
to presume thus far beyond myself, to present your 
Majesty this short discourse: if ingratitude be a deadly 
poison to all honest virtues, I must be guilty of that 
crime if I should omit any means to be thankful. 

" * So it is, 

" * That some ten years ago being in Virginia, 
and taken prisoner by the power of Powhatan their 
chief King, I received from this great savage exceeding 
great courtesy, especially from his son Nantaquaus, the 
most manliest, comeliest, boldest spirit I ever saw in a 
savage, and his sister Pocahontas, the King's most dear 
and well-beloved daughter, being but a child of twelve 
or thirteen years of age, whose compassionate pitiful 
heart, of my desperate estate, gave me much cause to 
respect her ; I being the first Christian this proud 
King and his grim attendants ever saw : and thus en- 
thralled in their barbarous power, I cannot say I felt the 

33 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

least occasion of want that was in the power of these my 
mortal foes to prevent, notwithstanding all their threats. 
After some six weeks fatting among these savage 
courtiers, at the minute of my execution, she hazarded 
the beating out of her own brains to save mine ; and 
not only that, but so prevailed with her father, that I 
was safely conveyed to Jamestown : where I found 
about eight and thirty miserable poor and sick crea- 
tures, to keep possession of all those large territories of 
Virginia ; such was the weakness of this poor Common- 
wealth, as had the savages not fed us, we directly had 
starved. And this relief, most gracious Queen, was 
commonly brought us by this Lady Pocahontas. 

" ' Notwithstanding all these passages, when incon- 
stant Fortune turned our peace to war, this tender 
virgin would still not spare to dare to visit us, and by 
her our jars have been oft appeased, and our wants 
still supplied. Were it the policy of her father thus 
to employ her, or the ordinance of God thus to make 
her His instrument, or her extraordinary affection to 
our nation, I know not ; but of this I am sure : when 
her father, with the utmost of his policy and power, 
sought to surprise me, having but eighteen with me, 
the dark night could not affright her from coming 
through the irksome woods, and with watered eyes 
gave me intelligence, with her best advice to escape his 
fury ; which had he known, he had surely slain her. 

" ' Jamestown with her wild train she as freely fre- 
quented as her father's habitation ; and during the time 
of two or three years [1608-9] ^^^j ^^^^ under God, 
was still the instrument to preserve this Colony from 
death, famine and utter confusion ; which if in those 
times it had once been dissolved, Virginia might have 
lain as it was at our first arrival to this day. 

" ' Since then, this business having been turned and 
34 



THE STORY OF POCAHONTAS 

varied by many accidents from that I left it at : it is 
most certain, after a long and troublesome war after 
my departure, betwixt her father and our Colony, all 
which time she was not heard of; 

" ' About two years after she herself was taken 
prisoner, being so detained near two years lona^er, the 
Colony by that means was relieved, peace concluded ; 
and at last rejecting her barbarous condition, she was 
married to an English gentleman, with whom at this 
present she is in England ; the first Christian ever of 
that nation, the first Virginian ever spoke English, or 
had a child in marriage by an Englishman : a matter 
surely, if my meaning be truly considered and well 
understood, worthy a prince's understanding. 

"*Thus, most gracious Lady, I have related to 
your Majesty, what at your best leisure our approved 
Histories will account you at large, and done in the 
time of your Majesty's life ; and however this might be 
presented you from a more worthy pen, it cannot from 
a more honest heart, as yet I never begged anything of 
the state, or any : and it is my want of ability and her 
exceeding desert ; your birth, means and authority ; her 
birth, virtue, want and simplicity, doth make me thus 
bold, humbly to beseech your Majesty to take this 
knowledge of her, though it be from one so unworthy 
to be the reporter, as myself, her husband's estate not 
being able to make her fit to attend your Majesty. The 
most and least I can do is to tell you this, because none 
so oft has tried it as myself, and the rather being of so 
great a spirit, however her stature : if she should not be 
well received, seeing this kingdom may rightly have a 
kingdom by her means ; her present love to us and 
Christianity might turn to such scorn and fury, as to 
divert all this good to the worst of evil : whereas 
finding so great a Queen should do her some honour 

35 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

more than she can imagine, for being so kind to your 
servants and subjects, would so ravish her with content, 
as endear her dearest blood to effect that, your Majesty 
and all the King's honest subjects most earnestly 
desire.' " 

Captain Powell continues : 

" The small time I staid in London, divers courtiers 
and others, my acquaintances, have gone with me to see 
her, that generally concluded, they did think God had 
had a great hand in her conversion, and they have seen 
many English Ladies worse favoured, proportioned, and 
behavioured ; and as since I have heard, it pleased both 
the King and Queen's Majesty honourably to esteem her, 
accompanied with that honourable Lady the Lady de la 
Ware, and that honourable Lord her husband, and divers 
other persons of good qualities, both publicly at the 
masques and otherwise, to her great satisfaction and 
content, which doubtless she would have deserved, had 
she lived to arrive in Virginia. 

" The Treasurer, Council and Company, having well 
furnished Captain Samuel Argall, the Lady Pocahontas 
alias Rebecca, with her husband and others, in the good 
ship called the George ; it pleased God at Gravesend to 
take this young Lady to His mercy, where she made not 
more sorrow for her unexpected death, than joy to the 
beholders to hear and see her make so religious and 
godly an end. Her little child Thomas Rolfe, there- 
fore, was left at Plymouth with Sir Lewis Stukly, that 
desired the keeping of it." 

Indian Kidnapping 

Many are the tales of how Indians raiding a white 
settlement have kidnapped and adopted into their 
families the children of the slain whites, but none is 
36 



INDIAN KIDNAPPING 

more enthralling than that of Frances Slocum, who was 
carried away from home by a party of Delawares when 
but five years of age, and who lived with them until her 
death in 1847. When discovered by the whites she 
was an old woman of over seventy years of age. The 
story is told by the writer of a local history as follows : 

"The Slocums came from Warwick, Rhode Island, 
and Jonathan Slocum, the father of the far-famed cap- 
tive girl, emigrated, in 1777, with a wife and nine 
children. They located near one of the forts, upon a 
spot of ground which is at present covered by the city 
of Wilkes-Barre. 

" The early training of the family had been on prin- 
ciples averse to war, and Jonathan was loath to mix with 
the tumult of the valley. A son by the name of Giles, 
of a fiery spirit, could not brook the evident intentions 
of the Torys and British, and consequently he shouldered 
his musket, and was one to take part in the battle of 
July 3, 1778. 

" The prowling clans of savages and bushwhacking 
Torys which continued to harass the valley occasioned 
much mischief in different parts, and in the month of 
November following the battle it was the misfortune 
of the Slocum family to be visited by a party of these 
Delawares, who approached the cabin, in front of which 
two Kingsley boys were engaged at a grindstone 
sharpening a knife. The elder had on a Continental 
coat, which aroused the ire of the savages, and he was 
shot down without warning and scalped by the very 
knife which he had put edge to. 

" The report roused the inmates of the house, and 
Mrs. Slocum had reached the door in time sufficient to 
see the boy of her neighbour scalped. 

"An elder daughter seized a young child two years 
old, and flew with terror to the woods. It is said that 

D 37 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

her impetuosity in escaping caused the Indians to roar 
with laughter. They were about to take away a boy 
when Mrs. SJocum pointed to a lame foot, exclaiming : 
* The child is lame ; he can do thee no good.' They 
dropped the boy and discovered little Frances hidden 
away under the staircase. It was but the act of a 
moment to secure her, and when they bore her away 
the tender child could but look over the Indian's 
shoulder and scream * JMamma ! ' 

" The alarm soon spread, but the elasticity o'<^ a 
Delaware's step had carried the party away into the 
mountains. 

" Mr. Slocum was absent at the time of the capture, 
and upon returning at night learned the sad news. 

" The family's trials did not end here. Miner, who 
is ever in sympathy with the early annals of Wyoming, 
thus depicts the scenes which occurred afterwards : 

" ' The cup of vengeance was not yet full. Decem- 
ber 1 6th, Mr. Slocum and Isaac Tripp, his father-in- 
law, an aged man, with William Slocum, a youth of 
nineteen or twenty, were feeding cattle from a stack in 
the meadow, in sight of the fort, when they were fired 
upon by Indians. Mr. Slocum was shot dead ; Mr. 
Tripp wounded, speared, and tomahawked ; both were 
scalped. William, wounded by a spent ball in the heel, 
escaped and gave the alarm, but the alert and wily foe 
had retreated to his hiding-place in the mountain. 
This deed, bold as it was cruel, was perpetrated within 
the town plot, in the centre of which the fortress was 
located. Thus, in little more than a month, Mrs. 
Slocum had lost a beloved child, carried into captivity ; 
the doorway had been drenched in blood by the murder 
of a member of the family ; two others of the house- 
hold had been taken away prisoners ; and now her 
husband and father were both stricken down to the 
38 



INDIAN KIDNAPPING 

grave, murdered and mangled by the merciless Indians. 
Verily, the annals of Indian atrocities, written in blood, 
record few instances of desolation and woe equal to 
this.' " 

" In 1784, after peace had settled upon the country, 
two of the Slocum brothers visited Niagara, in hopes of 
learning something of the whereabouts of the lost sister, 
but to no purpose. Large rewards were offered, but 
money will not extract a confession from an Indian. 

*' Little Frances all this time was widely known by 
many tribes of Indians, but she had become one of 
them, hence the mystery which shrouded her fate. 

" The efforts of the family were untiring. Several 
trips were made westward, and each resulted in vain. 
A large number of Indians of different tribes were con- 
vened, in 1789, at Tioga Point, to effect a treaty with 
Colonel Proctor. This opportunity seemed to be the 
fitting one, for one visit could reach several tribes, but 
Mrs. Slocum, after spending weeks of inquiry among 
them, was again obliged to return home in sorrow, and 
almost despair. 

" The brothers took a journey in 1797, occupying 
nearly the whole summer, in traversing the wilderness 
and Indian settlements of the west, but to no purpose. 
Once, indeed, a ray of hope seemed to glimmer upon 
the domestic darkness, for a female captive responded 
to the many and urgent inquiries, but Mrs. Slocum 
discovered at once that it was not her Frances. The 
mother of the lost child went down to the grave, having 
never heard from her daughter since she was carried 
away captive. 

"In 1826, Mr. Joseph Slocum, hearing of a promi- 
nent Wyandot chief who had a white woman for a wife, 
repaired to Sandusky, but was disappointed when he 
beheld the woman, who he knew to a certainty could 

39 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

not be Frances. Hope had become almost abandoned, 
and the family was allowing the memory of the lost 
girl to sink into forgetfulness, when one of those strange 
freaks of circumstances which seem so mysterious to 
humanity, but which are the ordinary actions of Infinity, 
brought to light the history and the person of the 
captive girl of Wyoming. 

" Colonel Ewing, who was connected with Indian 
service, had occasion to rest with a tribe on the Wabash, 
when he discovered a woman whose outlines and 
texture convinced him that she must be a white 
woman, though her face was as red as any squaw's 
could be. He made inquiries, and she admitted that 
she had been taken from her parents when she was 
young, that her name was Slocum, and that she was 
now so old that she had no objections to having her 
relations know of her whereabouts. 

" The Colonel knew full well how anxious many 
eastern hearts were to hear of the lost one of earlier 
days, and thinking that he would do a charitable 
service, he addressed the following letter to the Post- 
master of Lancaster, Pennsylvania : 

" ' LoGANSPORT, Indiana : January 20, 1835 

"'Dear Sir,— 

" * In the hope that some good may result from 
it, I have taken this means of giving to your fellow- 
citizens — say the descendants of the early settlers of 
Susquehanna — the following information : and if there 
be any now living whose name is Slocum, to them, I 
hope, the following may be communicated through the 
public prints of your place. 

" * There is now living near this place, among the 
Miami tribe of Indians, an aged white woman, who 
a few days ago told me, while I lodged in the camp 
40 



INDIAN KIDNAPPING 

one night, that she was taken away from her father's 
house, on or near the Susquehanna River, when she 
was very young — say from five to eight years old, as 
she thinks — by the Delaware Indians, who were then 
hostile toward the whites. She says her father's name 
was Slocum ; that he was a Quaker, rather small in 
stature, and wore a large-brimmed hat ; was of sandy 
hair and light complexion, and much freckled ; that he 
lived about a half a mile from a town where there was 
a fort ; that they lived in a wooden house of two 
stories high, and had a spring near the house. She 
says three Delawares came to the house in the daytime, 
when all were absent but herself, and perhaps two 
other children : her father and brothers were absent 
making hay. The Indians carried her off, and she was 
adopted into a family of Delawares, who raised her 
and treated her as their own child. They died about 
forty years ago, somewhere in Ohio. She was then 
married to a Miami, by whom she had four children ; 
two of them are now living — they are both daughters — 
and she lives with them. Her husband is dead ; she 
is old and feeble, and thinks she will not live long. 

" ' These considerations induced her to give the 
present history of herself, which she would never do 
before, fearing that her kindred would come and force 
her away. She has lived long and happy as an Indian, 
and, but for her colour, would not be suspected of 
being anything else but such. She is very respectable 
and wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without 
reproach. She says her father had a large family, say 
eight children in all — six older than herself, one 
younger, as well as she can recollect ; and she doubts 
not that there are still living many of their descendants, 
but seems to think that all her brothers and sisters 
must be dead, as she is very old herself, not far from 

41 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

the age of eighty. She thinks she was taken prisoner 
before the last two wars, which must mean the Revolu- 
tionary war, as Wayne's war and the late war have 
been since that one. She has entirely lost her mother 
tongue, and speaks only in Indian, which I also under- 
stand, and she gave me a full history of herself. 

" * Her own Christian name she has forgotten, but 
says her father's name was Slocum, and he was a 
Quaker. She also recollects that it was on the 
Susquehanna River that they lived. I have thought 
that from this letter you might cause something to be 
inserted in the newspapers of your county that might 
possibly catch the eye of some of the descendants of 
the Slocum family, who have knowledge of a girl 
having been carried off by the Indians some seventy 
years ago. This they might know from family 
tradition. If so, and they will come here, I will carry 
them where they may see the object of my letter alive 
and happy, though old and far advanced in life. 

" ' I can form no idea whereabouts on the Susque- 
hanna River this family could have lived at that early 
period, namely, about the time of the Revolutionary 
war, but perhaps you can ascertain more about it. If 
so, I hope you will interest yourself, and, if possible, 
let her brothers and sisters, if any be alive — if not, 
their children — know where they may once more see 
a relative whose fate has been wrapped in mystery for 
seventy years, and for whom her bereaved and afflicted 
parents doubtless shed many a bitter tear. They have 
long since found their graves, though their lost child 
they never found. I have been much affected with 
the disclosure, and hope the surviving friends may 
obtain, through your goodness, the information I desire 
for them. If I can be of any service to them, they 
may command me. In the meantime, I hope you will 
42 



INDIAN KIDNAPPING 

excuse me for the freedom I have taken with you, a 
total stranger, and believe me to be. Sir, with much 
respect, your obedient servant, 

"^Geo. W. Ewing.' 

" This letter met the fate of many others of import- 
ance — it was flung away as a wild story. 

" The Postmaster died, and had been in his grave 
time sufficient to allow his wife an opportunity of 
straightening his affairs. She was in the act of over- 
hauling a mass of papers belonging to her husband's 
business when she encountered the letter of Colonel 
Ewing. A woman's perceptions are keen and quick, 
and the tender emotions which were begotten in her 
mind were but the responses of her better nature. 
Her sympathy yearned for one of her own sex, and 
she could do no more than proclaim the story to the 
world. Accordingly she sent the letter to the editor 
of the Lancaster Intelligence^ and therein it was pub- 
lished. 

" Newspapers of limited circulation may not revolu- 
tionize matters of great importance, but they have 
their sphere in detail, and when the aggregate is 
summed they accomplish more than the mighty engines 
of larger mediums. 

" It was so in this case — the Lancaster paper was 
about issuing an extra for temperance purposes, and 
this letter happened to go into the forme to help 'fill 
up,' as poor printers sometimes express it. The Lan- 
caster office was not poor, but the foreman did * fill 
up ' with the Ewing letter. Rev. Samuel Bowman, 
of Wilkes-Barre, by chance saw a copy. He knew the 
Slocums, and the entire history of the valley as it was 
given by tradition. 

" He was not present in the valley at the time, but 

43 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

his heart warmed for the scenes and associations of 
early times in Wyoming. He mailed one of the 
papers to a Slocum, a brother of the captive girl, and 
the effect produced was as if by magic. Everybody 
was acquainted with the history of Frances, and all 
were interested in her fate. Sixty years had gone by 
since she was carried away, an innocent girl, and now 
the world had found the lost one. 

"There was one mark which could not be mistaken 
— little Frances when a child had played with a brother 
in the blacksmith's shop, and by a careless blow from the 
latter a finger was crushed in such a manner that it 
never regained its original form. 

" Mr. Isaac Slocum, accompanied by a sister and 
brother, sought an interview with the tanned woman, 
through the aid of an interpreter, and the first question 
asked, after an examination of the finger, was : * How 
came that finger jambed ? ' The reply was convincing 
and conclusive : * My brother struck it with a hammer 
in the shop, a long time ago, before I was carried 
away.' 

" Here then at last, by this unmistakable token, the 
lost was found. Her memory proved to be unerring ; 
the details of events sixty years old were perfect, and 
given in such a manner as to awaken in the hearts of 
the Slocum family warm emotions for the withered 
old woman. Her life, although rude, had been a 
happy one, and no inducements were strong enough 
to persuade her to leave the camp-fires of her adoption. 

"By Act of Congress, Ma-con-a-qua, the Indian title 
of Frances Slocum, was granted one mile square of the 
reservation which was appointed to the Indians of 
Indiana, west of the Mississippi — to be held by herself 
during her life, and to revert to her heirs forever. She 
died March 9th, 1847, ^"^ was given Christian burial 
44 



DWELLINGS 

in a beautiful spot where the romantic waters of the 
Missisinewa and Wabash rivers join their ripples on the 
way to the sea. 

"The story of the captive girl of Wyoming has been 
breathed around the hearths of the entire Christian 
world as one of the most fruitful in romance and 
song." 

Dwellings 

The habitations of the Indians of North America may 
be classed as community houses (using the term * com- 
munity ' in the sense of comprising more than one 
family) and single or family dwellings. " The house 
architecture of the northern tribes is of little importance, 
in itself considered ; but as an outcome of their social 
condition, and for comparison with that of the southern 
village Indians, is highly important. The typical com- 
munity houses, as those of the Iroquois tribes, were 
50 to 100 feet long by 16 to 18 wide, with frame 
of poles, and with sides and triangular roof covered 
with bark, usually of the elm. The interior was 
divided into compartments, and a smoke-hole was left 
in the roof. A Mohican house, similar in form, 
14 by 60 feet, had the sides and roof made of rushes 
and chestnut bark, with an opening along the top of 
the roof from end to end. The Mandan circular com- 
munity house was usually about 14 feet in diameter. 
It was supported by two series of posts and cross-beams, 
and the wide roof and sloping sides were covered with 
willow or brush matting and earth. The fireplace was 
in the centre. Morgan thinks that the oblong, round- 
roof houses of the Virginia and North Carolina tribes, 
seen and described by Captain John Smith and drawn 
by John White, were of the community order. That 
some of them housed a number of families is distinctly 

45 



\ 
\ 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

stated. Morgan includes also in the community class the 
circular, dome-shaped earth lodges of Sacramento Valley 
and the L-form, tent-shaped, thatched lodges of the 
higher areas of California ; but the leading examples 
of community houses are the large, sometimes massive, 
many-celled clusters of stone or adobe in New Mexico 
and Arizona known as pueblos. These dwellings vary 
in form, some of those built in prehistoric times being 
semicircular, others oblong, around or enclosing a court 
or plaza. These buildings were constructed usually in 
terrace form, the lower having a one-story tier of apart- 
ments, the next two stories, and so on to the uppermost 
tier, which sometimes constituted a seventh story. The 
masonry consisted usually of small flat stones laid in 
adobe mortar and chinked with spalls ; but sometimes 
large balls of adobe were used as building stones, or a 
double row of wattling was erected and filled in with 
grout, solidly tamped. By the latter method, known 
as pise construction, walls 5 to 7 feet thick were 
sometimes built. The outer walls of the lowest story 
were pierced only by small openings, access to the 
interior being gained by means of ladders, which could 
be drawn up if necessary, and of a hatchway in the roof. 
It is possible that some of the elaborate structures of 
Mexico were developed from such hive-like buildings 
as those of the typical pueblos^ the cells increasing in 
size toward the south, as suggested by Bandelier. 
Chimneys appear to have been unknown in North 
America until after contact of the natives with Euro- 
peans, the hatchway in the roof serving the double 
purpose of entrance and flue. Other forms, some 
' community ' and others not, are the following : The 
Tlingit, Haida, and some other tribes build substantial 
rectangular houses, with sides and ends formed of 
planks, and with the fronts elaborately carved and 
46 



DWELLINGS 

painted with symbolic figures. Directly in front of 
the house a totem pole is placed, and near by a memorial 
pole is erected. These houses are sometimes 40 by 
100 feet in the Nootka and Salish regions, and are 
occupied by a number of families. Formerly some of 
the Haida houses are said to have been built on plat- 
forms supported by posts. Some of these seen by such 
early navigators as Vancouver were 25 or 30 feet 
above ground, access being had by notched logs serving 
as ladders. Among the north-western Indian tribes, 
as the Nez Perces, the dwelling was a frame of poles 
covered with rush matting or with buffalo or elk skins. 
The houses of the Californian tribes were rectangular 
or circular ; of the latter, some were conical, others 
dome-shaped. There was also formerly in use in 
various parts of California, and to some extent on the 
interior plateaus, a semi-subterranean earth-covered 
lodge known amongst the Maidu as kum. The most 
primitive abodes were those of the Paiute and the 
Cocopa, consisting simply of brush shelters for summer, 
and for winter of a framework of poles bent together 
at the top and covered with brush, bark, and earth. 
Somewhat similar structures are erected by the Pueblos 
as farm shelters, and more elaborate houses of the same 
general type are built by the Apache of Arizona. As 
indicated by archaeological researches, the circular wig- 
wam, with sides of bark or mats, built over a shallow 
excavation in the soil, and with earth thrown against 
the base, appears to have been the usual form of 
dwelling in the Ohio valley and the immediate valley 
of the Mississippi in prehistoric and early historic 
times. Another kind of dwelling, in use in Arkansas 
before the Discovery, was a rectangular structure with 
two rooms in front and one in the rear ; the walls were 
of upright posts thickly plastered with clay on a sort of 

47 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

wattle. With the exception of the puehlo structures, 
buildings of stone or adobe were unknown until recent 
times. The dwellings of some of the tribes of the 
plains, such as the Sioux, Arapaho, Comanche, and 
Kiowa, were generally portable skin tents or tipis^ but 
those of the Omaha, Osage, and some others were more 
substantial. The dwellings of the Omaha, according to 
Miss Fletcher, *are built by setting carefully selected 
and prepared posts together in a circle, and binding 
firmly with willows, then backing them with dried 
grass, and covering the entire structure with closely 
packed sods. The roof is made in the same manner, 
having an additional support of an inner circle of posts, 
with crochets to hold the cross-logs which act as beams 
to the dome-shaped roof. A circular opening in the 
centre serves as a chimney, and also to give light to the 
interior of the dwelling ; a sort of sail is rigged and 
fastened outside of this opening to guide the smoke 
and prevent it from annoying the occupants of the lodge. 
The entrance passage-way, which usually faces east- 
ward, is from 6 to lo feet long, and is built in the 
same manner as the lodge.' An important type is the 
Wichita grass hut, circular dome-shaped with conical 
top. The frame is built somewhat in panels formed 
by ribs and cross-bars ; these are covered with grass 
tied on shingle fashion. These grass lodges vary in 
diameter from 40 to 50 feet. The early Florida houses, 
according to Le Moyne's illustrations published by 
De Bry, were either circular with dome-like roof, or 
oblong with rounded roof, like those of Secotan in 
North Carolina, as shown in John White's figures. 
The frame was of poles covered with bark, or the latter 
was sometimes thatched. The Chippeway usually con- 
structed a conical or hemispherical framework of poles, 
covered with bark. Formerly caves and rock-shelters 




J ^ 



< s 



DWELLINGS 

were used in some sections as abodes, and in the Pueblo 
region houses were formerly constructed in natural 
recesses or shelters in the clifFs, whence the designation 
clifF-dwellings. Similar habitations are still in use to 
some extent by the Tarahumare of Chihuahua, Mexico. 
Cavate houses with several rooms were also hewn in 
the sides of soft volcanic cliffs ; so numerous are these 
in Verde Valley, Arizona, and the Jemez plateau. New 
Mexico, that for miles the cliff-face is honeycombed 
with them. As a rule the women were the builders of 
the houses where wood was the structural material, but 
the men assisted with the heavier work. In the southern 
states it was a common custom to erect mounds as 
foundations for council-houses, for the chief's dwelling, 
or for structures designed for other official uses. The 
erection of houses, especially those of a permanent 
character, was usually attended with great ceremony, 
particularly when the time for dedication came. The 
construction of the Navaho hogan^ for example, was 
done in accordance with fixed rules, as was the cutting 
and sewing of the tipi among the Plains tribes, while 
the new houses erected during the year were usually 
dedicated with ceremony and feasting. Although the 
better types of houses were symmetrical and well-pro- 
portioned, their builders had not learned the use of the 
square or the plumb-line. The unit of measure was 
also apparently unknown, and even in the best types of 
ancient pueblo masonry the joints of the stonework 
were not * broken.' The Indian names for some of 
their structures, as tipi^ wigwam^ wickiup^ hogan^ have 
come into use to a great extent by English-speaking 
people."^ 

^ Bulletin JO, Bureau of American Ethnology. 



49 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Tribal Law and Custom 

There is but little exact data available respecting 
the social polity of the Red Race of North America. 
Kinship appears to have been the basis of government 
among most of the tribes, and descent was traced both 
through the male and female line, according to locality. 
In most tribes military and civil functions were carefully 
distinguished from each other, the civil government 
being lodged in the hands of chiefs of varying grades. 
These chiefs were elected by a tribal council, and 
were not by virtue of their office military leaders. 
Every village or group was represented in the general 
council by a head-man, who was sometimes chosen 
by the priests. Secret societies exercised a powerful 
sway. 

Hunting 

Hunting was almost the sole occupation of the males 
of the Indian tribes. So much were they dependent 
on the produce of the chase for their livelihood that 
they developed the pursuit of game into an art. In 
commerce they confined themselves to trading in skins 
and furs ; but they disposed of these only when their 
personal or tribal requirements had been fully satisfied. 
When the tribe had returned from its summer hunting 
expedition, and after the spoils of the chase had been 
faithfully distributed among its members — a tribal 
custom which was rigorously adhered to — ceremonial 
rites were engaged in and certain sacred formulae were 
observed. In hunting game the Indians usually erected 
pens or enclosures, into which the beasts were driven 
and slaughtered. Early writers believed that they 
fired the prairie grass and pressed in upon the panic- 
stricken herd ; but this is contradicted by the Indians 
50 



HUNTING 

themselves, who assert that fire would be injurious to 
the fur of the animals hunted. Indeed, such an act, 
causing a herd to scatter, was punishable by death. 
In exceptional cases, however, the practice might be 
resorted to in order to drive the animals into the 
woods. In pursuing their prey it was customary for 
the tribe to form a circle, and thus prevent escape. 
The most favourable months for hunting were June, 
July, and August, when the animals were fat and the 
fur of rich quality. To the hunter who had slain the 
animal the tribe awarded the skin and part of the 
carcass. The other portions were usually divided 
among the inhabitants of the village. As a result of 
this method of sharing there was very little waste. 
The flesh, which was cut into thin slices, was hung up 
to dry in the sun on long poles, and rolled up and 
stored for winter use. The pelts were used in the 
making of clothing, shields, and bags. Ropes, tents, 
and other articles were also prepared from the skins. 
Bowstrings and sewing-thread were made from the 
sinews, and drinking-cups were shaped out of the 
larger bones. 

Among the methods employed in capturing game 
was the setting of traps, into which the animal was 
decoyed. A more primitive method of taking animals 
by the hand was largely in use. The hunter would 
steal upon his prey in the dead of night, using the 
utmost cunning and agility, and seize upon the unwary 
bird or sleeping animal. The Indians were skilled in 
climbing and diving, and, employing the art of mimicry, 
in which they attained great proficiency, they would 
surround a herd of animals and drive them into a 
narrow gorge out of which they could not escape. 
Their edged weapons, fashioned from stone, bones, 
and reeds, and used with great skill, assisted them 

51 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

effectually when brought to close quarters with their 
prey. Dogs, although not regularly trained, they found 
of much value in the hunt, especially for tracking down 
the more swift and savage beasts. With the assistance 
of fire the hunter's conquest over the animal became 
assured. His prey would be driven out of its hiding- 
place by smoke, or the torch would dazzle it. Drugging 
animals with poisonous roots and polluting streams to 
capture fish were largely practised. The use of nets 
and scoops for taking animals from the water and the 
fashioning of rakes for securing worms from the earth 
were other methods employed to obtain food. The 
use of the canoe gave rise to the invention of the 
harpoon. 

The wandering habits of their game and the con- 
struction of fences were obstacles which strengthened 
their perception and gave excellent training for the 
hunt. The variety of circumstances with which they 
had to meet caused them to prepare or devise the 
many weapons and snares to which they resorted. 
Certain periods or seasons of the year were observed 
for the hunting of particular animals, each of which 
figured as a token or heraldic symbol of a tribe or 
gens. 

Schoolcraft, in an accurate and entertaining account 
of Indian hunting in his Historical and Statistical Infor- 
mation respecting the Indian Tribes^ says : 

" The simplest of all species of hunting is perhaps the 
art of hunting the deer. This animal, it is known, is 
endowed with the fatal curiosity of stopping in its flight 
to turn round and look at the object that disturbed it ; 
and as this is generally done within rifle-range, the 
habit is indulged at the cost of its life ; whereas, if it 
trusted unwaveringly to its heels, it would escape. 

" One of the most ingenious modes of hunting the 
52 



HUNTING 

deer is that oi fire-huntings which is done by descending 
a stream in a canoe at night with a flambeau. In the 
latter part of spring and summer the Indian hunters on 
the small interior rivers take the bark of the elm or 
cedar, peeling it off whole, for five or six feet in length, 
and, turning it inside out, paint the outer surface black 
with charcoal. It is then pierced with an orifice to fit 
it on the bow of the canoe, so as to hide the sitter ; then 
a light or torch is made by small rolls, two or three 
feet long, of twisted birch bark (which is very inflam- 
mable), and this is placed on the extreme bow of the 
boat, a little in front of the bark screen, in which 
position it throws its rays strongly forward, leaving 
all behind in darkness. The deer, whose eyes are fixed 
on the light as it floats down, is thus brought within 
range of the gun. Swans are hunted in the same 
way. 

" The mazes of the forest are, however, the Indian 
hunter's peculiar field of action. No footprint can be im- 
pressed there with which he is not familiar. In his tem- 
porary journeys in the search after game he generally 
encamps early, and sallies out at the first peep of day on 
his hunting tour. If he is in a forest country he chooses 
his ambush in valleys, for the plain reason that all 
animals, as night approaches, come into the valleys. In 
ascending these he is very careful to take that side of a 
stream which throws a shadow from it, so that he may 
have a clear view of all that passes on the opposite side, 
while he is himself screened by the shadow. But he is 
particularly on the alert to take this precaution if he is 
apprehensive of lurking foes. The tracks of an animal 
are the subject of the minutest observation ; they tell 
him at a glance the species of animal that has passed, 
the time that has elapsed, and the course it has pursued. 
If the surface of the earth be moist, the indications are 

E 53 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

plain ; if it be hard or rocky, they are drawn from less 
palpable but scarcely less unmistakable signs. 

" One of the largest and most varied days' hunt 
of which we are apprised was by a noted Chippeway 
hunter, named Nokay, on the upper Mississippi, who, 
tradition asserts, in one day, near the mouth of the 
Crow Wing River, killed sixteen elk, four buffaloes, 
five deer, three bears, one lynx, and a porcupine. This 
feat has doubtless been exceeded in the buffalo 
ranges of the south-west, where the bow and arrow is 
known to have been so dexterously and rapidly applied 
in respect to that animal ; but it is seldom that the 
chase in forest districts is as successful as in this 
instance. 

"On one occasion the celebrated chief Wabojeeg 
went out early in the morning, near the banks of Lake 
Superior, to set martin-traps. He had set about forty, 
and was returning to his wigwam, armed with his 
hatchet and knife only, when he encountered a buck 
moose. He sheltered himself behind trees, retreating ; 
but as the animal pursued, he picked up a pole, and, 
unfastening his moccasin-strings, tied the knife firmly to 
the pole. He then took a favourable position behind 
a tree and stabbed the animal several times in the throat 
and breast. At length it fell, and he cut out and carried 
home the tongue as a trophy of his prowess. 

"In 1808, Gitshe lawba, of Kewywenon, Lake 
Superior, killed a three-year-old moose of three hundred 
pounds weight. It was in the month of February, and 
the snow was so soft, from a partial thaw, that the agm, 
or snow-shoes, sank deep at every step. After cutting 
up the animal and drawing out the blood, he wrapped 
the flesh in the skin, and, putting himself under it, rose 
up erect. Finding he could bear the weight, he then 
took a litter of nine pups in a blanket upon his right 
54 



COSTUME 

arm, threw his wallet on top of his head, and, putting 
his gun over his left shoulder, walked six miles to his 
wigwam. This was the strongest man that has appeared 
in the Chippeway nation in modern times. 

"In 1827, Annimikens, of Red River of the North, 
was one day quite engrossed in looking out a path for 
his camp to pass, when he was startled by the sharp 
snorting of a grizzly bear. He immediately presented 
his gun and attempted to fire ; but, the priming not 
igniting, he was knocked by the animal, the next 
instant, several steps backward, and his gun driven 
full fifteen feet through the air. The bear then struck 
him on one cheek and tore away a part of it. The little 
consciousness he had left told him to be passive, and 
manifest no signs of life. Fortunately, the beast had 
satiated his appetite on the carcass of a buffalo near by. 
Having clawed his victim at pleasure, he then took him 
by the neck, dragged him into the bushes, and there 
left him. Yet from such a wound the Indian recovered, 
though a disfigured man, and lived to tell me the story 
with his own lips. 

" Relations of such hunting exploits and adventures 
are vividly repeated in the Indian country, and con- 
stitute a species of renown which is eagerly sought by 
the young." 

Costume 

The picturesque costume of the Red Man is so 
original in character as to deserve more than passing 
mention. An authority on Indian costume, writing 
in Bulletin jo of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 
says : 

"The tribes of Northern America belong in general 
to the wholly clothed peoples, the exceptions being 
those inhabiting the warmer regions of the southern 

55 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

United States and the Pacific coast, who were semi- 
clothed. Tanned skin of the deer family was generally 
the material for clothing throughout the greater part of 
the country. The hide of the buffalo was worn for 
robes by tribes of the plains, and even for dresses and 
leggings by older people, but the leather was too 
harsh for clothing generally, while elk- or moose-skin, 
although soft, was too thick. Fabrics of bark, hair, 
fur, mountain-sheep wool, and feathers were made in 
the North Pacific, Pueblo, and southern regions, and 
cotton has been woven by the Hopi from ancient times. 
Climate, environment, elevation, and oceanic currents 
determined the materials used for clothing as well 
as the demand for clothing. Sinew from the tendons 
of the larger animals was the usual sewing material, but 
fibres of plants, especially the agave, were also employed. 
Bone awls were used in sewing ; bone needles were 
rarely employed and were too large for fine work. The 
older needlework is of exceptionally good character and 
shows great skill with the awl. Unlike many other 
arts, sewing was practised by both sexes, and each sex 
usually made its own clothing. The typical and more 
familiar costume of the Indian man was of tanned buck- 
skin,and consisted of a shirt, a breech-cloth, leggings tied 
to a belt or waist-strap, and low moccasins. The shirt, 
which hung free over the hips, was provided with sleeves 
and was designed to be drawn over the head. The 
woman's costume differed from that of the man in the 
length of the shirt, which had short sleeves hanging 
loosely over the upper arm, and in the absence of the 
breech-cloth. Women also wore the belt to confine the 
garment at the waist. Robes of skin, woven fabrics, or 
of feathers were also worn, but blankets were substituted 
for these later. The costume presented tribal differences 
in cut, colour, and ornamentation. The free edges were 
56 



COSTUME 

generally fringed, and quill embroidery and beadwork, 
painting, scalp-locks, tails of animals, feathers, claws, 
hoofs, shells, etc., were applied as ornaments or charms. 
The typical dress of the Pueblo Indians is generally 
similar to that of the Plains tribes, except that it is made 
largely of woven fabrics. 

"Among the Pacific coast tribes, and those along 
the Mexican border, the Gulf, and the Atlantic coast, 
the customary garment of women was a fringe-like 
skirt of bark, cord, strung seeds, or peltry, worn around 
the loins. In certain seasons or during special occupa- 
tions only the loin-band was worn. For occasional 
use in cooler weather a skin robe or cape was thrown 
about the shoulders, or, under exceptional conditions, 
a large robe woven of strips of rabbit-skin. Ceremonial 
costume was much more elaborate than that for ordinary 
wear. Moccasins and leggings were worn throughout 
much of this area, but in the warmer parts and in 
California their use was unusual. Some tribes near 
the Mexican boundary wear sandals, and sandal-wear- 
ing tribes once ranged widely in the south-west. These 
have also been found in Kentucky caverns. Hats, 
usually of basketry, were worn by many Pacific coast 
tribes. Mittens were used by the Eskimo and other 
tribes of the far north. Belts of various materials 
and ornamentation not only confined the clothing, 
but supported pouches, trinket-bags, paint-bags, etc. 
Larger pouches and pipe-bags of fur or deer-skin, 
beaded or ornamented with quill-work, and of plain 
skin, netting, or woven stuff, were slung from the 
shoulder. Necklaces, earrings, charms, and bracelets 
in infinite variety formed a part of the clothing, and 
the wrist-guard to protect the arm from the recoil of 
the bowstring was general. 

" Shortly after the advent of whites Indian costume 

57 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

was profoundly modified over a vast area of America 
by the copying of European dress and the use ot 
traders' stuffs. Knowledge of prehistoric and early 
historic primitive textile fabrics has been derived from 
impressions of fabrics on pottery, and from fabrics 
themselves that have been preserved by charring in 
fire, contact with copper, or protection from the elements 
in caves. 

"A synopsis of the costumes worn by tribes living 
in the several geographical regions of northern America 
follows. The list is necessarily incomplete, for on 
account of the abandonment of tribal costumes the data 
are chiefly historical. 

*' Athapascan. Mackenzie and Yukon — Men : Shirt-coat, legging- 
moccasins, breech-cloth, hat and hood. Women : Long shirt-coat, 
legging-moccasins, belt. 

" Algonquian-Iroquois. 'Northern — Men: Robe, shirt-coat, long- 
coat, trousers, leggings, moccasins, breech-cloth, turban. Virginia — 
Men and women : Cloak, waist-garment, moccasins, sandals (?), 
breech-cloth (r). Western — Men : Robe, long dress-shirt, long 
leggings, moccasins, bandolier-bag. Women : Long dress-shirt, 
short leggings, moccasins, belt. Arctic — Men : Long coat, open in 
front, short breeches, leggings, moccasins, gloves or mittens, cap or 
headdress. Women : Robe, shirt-dress, leggings, moccasins, belt, 
cap, and sometimes a shoulder-mantle. 

" Southern or Muskhogean. Seminole — Men : Shirt, over-shirt, 
leggings, moccasins, breech-cloth, belt, turban. Formerly the Gulf 
tribes wore robe, waist-garment, and occasionally moccasins. 

"Plains. Men : Buffalo robe, shirt to knees or longer, breech- 
cloth, thigh-leggings, moccasins, headdress. Women : Long shirt- 
dress with short ample cape sleeves, belt, leggings to the knees, 
moccasins, 

"North Pacific. Chilkat — Men: Blanket or bark mat robe, 
shirt-coat (rare), legging-moccasins, basket hat. Women : Tanned 
skin shoulder-robe, shirt-dress with sleeves, fringed apron, leggings (?), 
moccasins, breech-cloth (?). 

"Washington-Columbia, Salish — Men: Robe, head-band, and, 
rarely, shirt-coat, leggings, moccasins, breech-cloth. Women : 
Long shirt-dress, apron, and, rarely, leggings, breech-cloth, moccasins, 
58 




Omaha Woman's Costume 

By permission of the Bureau of American Ethnology 



58 



FACE^PAINTING 

" Shoshonean. Same as the Plains tribes. 

"California-Oregon. Hupa — Men: Robe, and waist-garment 
on occasion, moccasins (rarely) ; men frequently and old men 
generally went entirely naked. Women : Waist-garment and 
narrow aprons ; occasionally robe-cape, like Pueblo, over shoulders 
or under arms, over breast ; basket cap ; sometimes moccasins. 
Central California — Men : Usually naked ; robe, network cap, 
moccasins, and breech-cloth occasionally. Women : Waist-skirt of 
vegetal fibre or buckskin, and basketry cap ; robe and moccasins on 
occasion. 

" South-western. Pueblo — Men : Blanket or rabbit-skin or feather 
robe, shirt with sleeves, short breeches partly open on outer sides, 
breech-cloth, leggings to knees, moccasins, hair-tape, and head-band. 
Women : Blanket fastened over one shoulder, extending to knees ; 
small calico shawl over blanket thrown over shoulders ; legging- 
moccasins, belt. Sandals formerly worn in this area. Snow- 
moccasins of fur sometimes worn in winter. Apache — Men : Same 
as on plains. Women : Same, except legging-moccasins with shield 
toe. Navaho — Now like Pueblo ; formerly like Plains tribes. 

" GiLA-SoNoRA. Cocopa and Mohave — Men: Breech-cloth, sandals, 
sometimes head-band. Women: Waist-garments, usually of fringed 
bark, front and rear. Pima — Same as Plains; formerly cotton robe, 
waist-cloth and sandals." 

Face'Painting 

A first-hand account of how the Indian brave decorated 
his face cannot but prove of interest. Says a writer who 
dwelt for some time among the Sioux : ^ 

" Daily, when I had the opportunity, I drew the 
patterns their faces displayed, and at length obtained a 
collection, whose variety even astonished myself. The 
strange combinations produced in the kaleidoscope may 
be termed weak when compared to what an Indian's 
imagination produces on his forehead, nose, and cheek. 
I will try to give some account of them as far as words 
will reach. Two things struck me most in their 
arrangement of colour. First, the fact that they did 
not trouble themselves at all about the natural divisions 

1 J. G. Kohl, Kitchi- garni (i860). 

59 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of the face ; and, secondly, the extraordinary mixture 
of the graceful and the grotesque. At times, it is true, 
they did observe those natural divisions produced by 
nose, eyes, mouth, etc. The eyes were surrounded 
with regular coloured circles ; yellow or black stripes 
issued harmoniously and equidistant from the mouth ; 
over the cheeks ran a semicircle of green dots, the ears 
forming the centre. At times, too, the forehead was 
traversed by lines running parallel to the natural 
contour of that feature ; this always looked somewhat 
human, so to speak, because the fundamental character 
of the face was unaltered. Usually, however, these 
regular patterns do not suit the taste of the Indians. 
They like contrasts, and frequently divide the face into 
two halves, which undergo different treatment ; one 
will be dark — say black or blue — but the other quite 
light, yellow, bright red, or white : one will be crossed 
by thick lines made by the forefingers, while the other 
is arabesque, with extremely fine lines, produced by the 
aid of a brush. 

" This division is produced in two different ways. 
The line of demarcation sometimes runs down the nose, 
so that the right cheek and side are buried in gloom, 
while the left looks like a flower-bed in the sunshine. 
At times, though, they draw the line across the nose, 
so that the eyes glisten out of the dark colour, while 
all beneath the nose is bright and lustrous. It seems 
as if they wished to represent on their faces the different 
phases of the moon. I frequently inquired whether 
there was any significance in these various patterns, 
but was assured it was a mere matter of taste. They 
were simple arabesques, like their squaws' work on the 
moccasins, girdles, tobacco-pouches, etc. 

" Still there is a certain symbolism in the use of the 
colours. Thus, red generally typifies joy and festivity; 
60 



FACE^PAINTING 

and black mourning. When any very melancholy death 
takes place, they rub a handful of charcoal over the 
entire face. If the deceased is only a distant relative, 
a mere trellis-work of black lines is painted on the face ; 
they have also a half-mourning, and only paint half the 
face black. Red is not only their joy, but also their 
favourite colour. They generally cover their face with 
a coating of bright red, on which the other colours are 
laid ; for this purpose they employ vermilion, which 
comes from China, and is brought them by the Indian 
traders. However, this red is by no means de rigueur. 
Frequently the ground colour is a bright yellow, for 
which they employ chrome-yellow, obtained from the 
trader. 

" They are also very partial to Prussian blue, and 
employ this colour not only on their faces, but as a 
type of peace on their pipes ; and as the hue of the 
sky, on their graves. It is a very curious fact, by 
the way, that hardly any Indian can distinguish blue 
from green. I have seen the sky which they represent 
on their graves by a round arch, as frequently of one 
colour as the other. In the Sioux language /oji^ signifies 
both green and blue; and a much-travelled Jesuit 
Father told me that among many Indian tribes the 
same confusion prevails. I have also been told that 
tribes have their favourite colours, and I am inclined 
to believe it, although I was not able to recognize any 
such rule. Generally all Indians seem to hold their 
own native copper skin in special affection, and heighten 
it with vermilion when it does not seem to them suffi- 
ciently red. 

" I discovered during a journey I took among the 
Sioux that there is a certain national style in this face- 
painting. They were talking of a poor Indian who 
had gone mad, and when I asked some of his country- 

6i 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

men present in what way he displayed his insanity, 
they said, * Oh, he dresses himself up so funnily with 
feathers and shells ; he paints his face so comically 
that it is enough to make one die of laughing.' This 
was said to me by persons so overladen with feathers, 
shells, green and vermilion, Prussian blue, and chrome- 
yellow, that I could hardly refrain from smiling. Still, 
I drew the conclusion from it that there must be some- 
thing conventional and typical in their variegated style 
which might be easily infringed." 

Indian Art 

If the Red Race of North America did not produce 
artistic work of an exalted order it at least evolved a 
distinctive and peculiar type of art. Some of the 
drawings and paintings on the walls of the brick 
erections of the southern tribes and the heraldic and 
religious symbols painted on the skin-covered lodges 
of the Plains people are intricate and rhythmic in plan 
and brilliant in colouring. The houses of the north- 
west coast tribes, built entirely of wood, are supported 
by pillars elaborately carved and embellished to repre- 
sent the totem or tribal symbol of the owner. On 
both the interior and exterior walls brilliantly coloured 
designs, usually scenes from Indian mythology, are 
found. 

The decoration of earthenware was and is common 
to most of the tribes of North America, and is effected 
both by carving and stamping. It is in the art of 
carving that the Indian race appears to have achieved 
its greatest aesthetic triumph. Many carved objects 
are exceedingly elaborate and intricate in design, and 
some of the work on stone pipes, masks, and house- 
hold utensils and ornaments has won the highest 
admiration of European masters of the art. Indeed, 
62 



WARFARE 

many of the pipes and claystone carvings of the Chimp- 
seyans and Clallams of Vancouver, and the Chippeways 
and Babeens, are by no means inferior to the best 
specimens of European mediaeval carved work. 

In the potter's art the Indian people often exhibit 
great taste, and the tribes of the Mississippi valley and 
the Pueblo Indians had made exceptional progress in 
plaster design. As has already been mentioned, the 
mound-builders displayed considerable skill in metal- 
work, and the stamped plates of copper taken from 
the earthen pyramids which they raised strikingly illus- 
trate the fact that Indian art is the growth and outcome 
of centuries of native effort and by no means a thing 
of yesterday. 

In weaving, needlework of all kinds, bead-work, and 
feather-work the Indians show great taste. Most of 
the designs they employ are geometric in plan. In 
feather-work especially the aboriginal peoples of the 
whole American continent excel. Rank was indicated 
among the Plains tribes either by the variety and 
number of feathers worn or by the manner of mounting 
or notching them. 

The aboriginal art of North America is in the 
highest degree symbolic and mythologic. It is thus 
entirely removed from any taint of materialism, and 
had it been permitted to evolve upon its own peculiar 
lines it might have developed a great measure of 
idealistic excellence. 

Warfare 

In the art of guerrilla warfare the Indians have always 
shown exceptional skill. Armed with bow and arrow, 
a war-club, or a tomahawk, they carried on a fierce 
resistance to the incursions of the white man. These 
weapons were artistically shaped and moulded, and 

63 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
were eminently suited to their owner's mode of fighting. 
But as they came more into contact with the whites 
the natives displayed a particular keenness to obtain 
firearms and gunpowder, steel knives and hatchets. 
They dispensed with their own rude if effective imple- 
ments of war, and, obtaining the coveted weapons 
by making successful raids upon the camps of their 
enemies, they set themselves to learn how to use them. 
So mysterious did gunpowder appear to them that 
they believed it to possess the property of reproduc- 
tion, and planted it in the earth in the hope that it 
would yield a supply for their future needs. In 
attacking the settlers they used many ingenious arti- 
fices to entrap or ambuscade them. These methods, 
naturally, proved successful against the whites, who 
had yet to learn Indian war-craft, but soon the settlers 
learned to adopt the same devices. The Indian would 
imitate the cry of the wild goose to attract the white 
hunter into the woods, where he would spring upon 
him. He would also reverse his snow-shoes in winter, 
to make it appear to the settler that he was retreating. 
Covering themselves with twigs to look like a bush 
was another method adopted by Indian spies. Occa- 
sionally they would approach the white man apparently 
in a spirit of friendliness, only to commit some act 
of treachery. Block-houses were built by the settlers 
as a means of defence against Indian nocturnal sur- 
prises, and into these the women and children were 
hurried for safety. But the perseverance of the white 
man and the declining birth-rate of the Indian tribes 
began to create a new situation. Driven repeatedly 
from one part of the country to another, and confined 
to a limited territory in which to live, hunt, and 
cultivate the soil, the Indians finally adopted a less 
aggressive attitude to those whom they at first, and 
64 



WARFARE 

for some time after their settlement, regarded with 
suspicion and resentment. 

Although the methods of warfare differed with the 
various tribes, the general scheme of operations was 
usually dictated by the council of chiefs, in whose 
hands the making of peace and war also lay. The 
campaign was generally prefaced by many eloquent 
harangues from the leaders, who gradually wrought 
the braves into a fury of resentment against their 
enemies. The ceremony of the war-dance was then 
proceeded with. Ranged in a circle, the warriors 
executed a kind of shuffle, occasionally slowly gyrating, 
with gestures and movements obviously intended to 
imitate those of some bird or beast,^ and grunting, 
clucking, and snarling the while. This ceremony was 
always undertaken in full panoply of war-paint and 
feathers. Subsequently the braves betook themselves 
to the * war-path.' If the campaign was undertaken 
in wooded country, they marched in single file.^ The 
most minute attention was paid to their surroundings 
to prevent ambuscade. The slightest sound, even the 
snapping of a twig, was sufficient to arrest their attention 
and cause them to halt. Alert, suspicious, and with 
every nerve strung to the highest point of tension, they 
proceeded with such exceeding caution that to surprise 
them was almost impossible. Should a warrior become 
isolated from the main body and be attacked and fatally 
wounded, he regarded it as essential to the safety of his 
comrades to utter a piercing shriek, which reverberated 
far through the forest ways and placed the rest of the band 
on their guard. This was known as the 'death-whoop.' 

When the campaign was undertaken in prairie or open 

^ Perhaps their personal or tribal totems. See "Totemism," 
pp. 80-86. 

^ Hence the expression ' Indian file.' 

63 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

country, the method usually employed was that of night 
attack ; but if for any reason this could not be success- 
fully made, a large circle was drawn round the place to 
be assailed, and gradually narrowed, the warriors who 
composed it creeping and wriggling through the grass, 
and when sufficiently near rising and rushing the camp 
or fort with wild war-cries. If a stout defence with 
firearm.s was anticipated, the warriors would surround 
the objective of attack on horseback, and ride round 
and round the fated position, gradually picking off the 
defenders with their rifles or arrows as the opportunity 
presented itself. Once the place was stormed the Indian 
brave neither asked nor gave quarter, at least so far as 
its male defenders were concerned. These were at 
once slain and scalped, the latter sanguinary process 
being effected by the brave placing his knees on his 
enemy's shoulders, describing a rapid circle with 
his knife in the centre of the victim's head, seizing 
the portion of the scalp thus loosened, and quickly 
detaching it. 

Schoolcraft, dealing with the subject of Indian war- 
fare, a matter upon which he was well qualified to 
speak, writes : '• 

"Success in war is to the Indian the acme of glory, 

and to learn its arts the object of his highest attainment. 

The boys and youths acquire the accomplishment at an 

early period of dancing the war-dance ; and although 

they are not permitted to join its fascinating circle till 

they assume the envied rank of actual warriors, still their 

early sports and mimic pastimes are imitations of its 

various movements and postures. The envied eagle's 

feather is the prize. For this the Indian's talent, subtlety, 

endurance, bravery, persevering fasts, and what may be 

called religious penances and observances are made. 

^ Historical and Statistical Information respecting the Indian Tribes. 
66 



WARFARE 

" The war-path is taken by youths at an early age. 
That age may be stated, for general comparison, to be 
sixteen ; but, without respect to exact time, it is always 
after the primary fast, during which the youth chooses 
his personal guardian or monedo — an age when he first 
assumes the duties of manhood. It is the period of 
the assumption of the three-pointed blanket, the true 
toga of the North American Indian. 

"The whole force of public opinion, in our Indian 
communities, is concentrated on this point ; its early 
lodge teachings (such as the recital of adventures of 
bravery), its dances, its religious rites, the harangues of 
prominent actors, made at public assemblages (such as 
is called ' striking the post '), all, in fact, that serves to 
awaken and fire ambition in the mind of the savage, 
is clustered about the idea of future distinction in war. 

"... The Indian has but one prime honour to 
grasp ; it is triumph in the war-path ; it is rushing upon 
his enemy, tearing the scalp reeking from his head, and 
then uttering his terrific sa-sa-kuon (death-whoop). For 
this crowning act he is permitted to mount the honoured 
feather of the war-eagle — the king of carnivorous birds. 
By this mark he is publicly known, and his honours 
recognized by all his tribe, and by the surrounding 
tribes whose customs assimilate. 

"When the scalp of an enemy has been won, very 
great pains are taken to exhibit it. For this purpose it is 
stretched on a hoop and mounted on a pole. The inner 
part is painted red, and the hair adjusted to hang in its 
natural manner. If it be the scalp of a male, eagle's 
feathers are attached to denote that fact. If a female, a 
comb or scissors is hung on the frame. In this condi- 
tion it is placed in the hands of an old woman, who 
bears it about in the scalp-dance, while opprobrious 
icpithets are uttered against the tribe from which it was 

(>7 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

taken. Amidst these wild rejoicings the war-cry is 
vociferated, and the general sentiment with old and 
young is : * Thus shall it be done to our enemies.' 

"The feather of the eagle is the highest honour that 
a warrior can wear, and a very extravagant sum is some- 
times given to procure one. The value of a horse has 
been known to be paid. The mode in which a feather 
is to be cut and worn is important to be noticed. 

"The scale of honour with the several tribes may 
vary, but the essential features are the same. Among 
the Dakota tribes an eagle's feather with a red spot 
denotes that the wearer has killed an enemy, a notch 
cut in it and edges of the feather painted red indicates 
that the throat of an enemy has been cut. Small con- 
secutive notches on the front side of the feather, without 
paint, denote that the wearer is the third person that has 
touched the dead body ; both edges notched, that he is 
the fourth person who has touched it ; and the feather 
partly denuded that he is the fifth person that has 
touched the slain. 

" On the blanket or buffalo robe worn by the Dakota 
Indian a red or black hand is often seen painted. The 
red hand indicates that the wearer has been wounded 
by his enemy, the black hand that he has slain his 
enemy. 

" The warlike tribe of the Chippeways, on the sources 
of the Mississippi, who, from a national act in their 
history, bear the distinctive name of Pillagers, award 
a successful warrior who shoots down and scalps his 
enemy three feathers ; and for the still more dangerous 
act of taking a wounded prisoner on the field, five — 
for they conceive that a wounded enemy is desperate, 
and will generally reserve his fire for a last act of 
vengeance, if he die the moment after. Those of the 
war-party who come up immediately and strike the 
68 



WARFARE 

enemy, so as to get marks of blood on their weapons, 
receive two feathers ; for it is customary for as many 
as can to perform this act. . . . Those who have been 
of the war-party, and merely see the fight, although 
they may have no blood-marks of which to boast as 
honours, and may even have lacked promptness in 
following the leader closely, are yet allowed to mount 
one feather. These honours are publicly awarded ; no 
one dares to assume them without authority, and there 
are instances where the feathers falsely assumed have 
been pulled violently from their heads in a public 
assemblage of the Indians. They never, however, blame 
each other for personal acts denoting cowardice or any 
species of timidity while on the war-path, hoping by 
this elevated course to encourage the young men to do 
better on another occasion. 

" All war-parties consist of volunteers. The leader, 
or war-captain, who attempts to raise one must have 
some reputation to start on. His appeals, at the 
assemblages for dancing the preliminary war-dance, are 
to the principles of bravery and nationality. They are 
brief and to the point. He is careful to be thought to 
act under the guidance of the Great Spirit, of whose 
secret will he affects to be apprised in dreams, or by 
some rites. 

" The principle of enlistment is sufficiently well 
preserved. For this purpose, the leader who proposes 
to raise the war-party takes the war-club in his hands, 
smeared with vermilion, to symbolize blood, and begins 
his war-song. I have witnessed several such scenes. 
The songs are brief, wild repetitions of sentiments of 
heroic deeds, or incitements to patriotic or military 
ardour. They are accompanied by the drum and rattle, 
and by the voice of one or more choristers. They are 
repeated slowly, sententiously, and with a measured 

F 69 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

cadence, to which the most exact time is kept. The 
warrior stamps the ground as if he could shake the 
universe. His language is often highly figurative, and 
he deals with the machinery of the clouds, the flight of 
carnivorous birds, and the influence of spiritual agencies, 
as if the region of space were at his command. He 
imagines his voice to be heard in the clouds ; and while 
he stamps the ground with well-feigned fury, he fancies 
himself to take hold of the ' circle of the sky ' with his 
hands. Every few moments he stops abruptly in his 
circular path, and utters the piercing war-cry. 

" He must be a cold listener who can sit unmoved 
by these appeals. The ideas thrown out succeed each 
other with the impetuosity of a torrent. They are 
suggestive of heroic frames of mind, of strong will, of 
burning sentiment. 

" ' Hear my voice, ye warlike birds ! 
I prepare a feast for you to batten on ; 
I see you cross the enemy's lines ; 
Like you I shall go. 
1 wish the swiftness of your wings ; 
I wish the vengeance of your claws ; 
I muster my friends ; 
I follow your flight. 
Ho, ye young men that are warriors. 
Look with wrath on the battlefield ! ' 

" Each warrior that rises and joins the war-dance 
thereby becomes a volunteer for the trip. He arms and 
equips himself ; he provides his own sustenance ; and 
when he steps out into the ring and dances, he chants 
his own song, and is greeted with redoubling yells. 
These ceremonies are tantamount to * enlistment,' and 
no young man who thus comes forward can honourably 
withdraw. 

" The sentiments of the following song were uttered 
by the celebrated Wabojeeg, as the leader of the 
70 



WARFARE 

Chippeways, after a victory over the combined Sioux 
and Sauks and Foxes, at the Falls of St. Croix, during 
the latter part of the seventeenth century : 

I 

" * Hear my voice, ye heroes ! 

On that day when our warriors sprang 
With shouts on the dastardly foe, 
Just vengeance my heart burned to take 
On the cruel and treacherous breed, 
The Bwoin — the Fox — the Sauk. 

II 

" * And here, on my breast, have I bled ! 
See — see ! my battle scars ! 
Ye mountains, tremble at my yell ! 
I strike for life. 

Ill 

" * But who are my foes ? They shall die. 
They shall fly o'er the plains like a fox ; 
They shall shake like a leaf in the storm. 
Perfidious dogs ! they roast our sons with fire ! 

IV 

** * Five winters in hunting we'll spend, 
While mourning our warriors slain. 
Till our youth grown to men 
For the battle-path trained. 
Our days like our fathers we'll end. 

V 

"* Ye are dead, noble men ! ye are gone, 
My brother — my fellow — my friend ! 
On the death-path where brave men must go 
But we live to revenge you ! We haste 
To die as our forefathers died.' 

" In 1824, Bwoinais, a Chippeway warrior of Lake 
Superior, repeated to me, with the appropriate tunes, 
the following war-songs, which had been uttered 

71 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

during the existing war between that nation and the 
Dakotas : 

I 

" * Oshawanung undossewug 

Penasewug ka baimwaidungig.' 

[From the south — they come, the warlike 

birds — 
Hark ! to their passing screams.] 

II 

" ' Todotobi penaise 
Ka dow Wiawwiaun.' 
[I wish to have the body of the fiercest 

bird, 
As swift — as cruel — as strong.] 

Ill 

" ' Ne wawaibena, neowai 
Kagait ne minwaindum 
Nebunaikumig tshebaibewishenaun.' 
[I cast my body to the chance of battle. 
Full happy am I, to lie on the field — 
On the field over the enemy's line.] " 

The Indian Wife and Mother 

The position of women among the North American 
Indians is distinctly favourable, when the general cir- 
cumstances of their environment are considered. As 
with most barbarian people, the main burden of the 
work of the community falls upon them. But in most 
cases the bulk of the food-supply is provided by the 
men, who have often to face long and arduous hunting 
expeditions in the search for provender. The labour 
of planting and digging seed, of hoeing, harvesting, and 
storing crops, is invariably borne by the women. In 
the more accessible Indian territory of North America, 
however, the practice of agriculture is falling into 
desuetude, and the aborigines are becoming accustomed 



INDIAN CHILD'LIFE 

to rely to a great extent on a supply of cereals from 
outside sources. 

In the art of weaving Indian women were and are 
extremely skilful. In the southern regions the Hopi 
women have woven cotton garments from time im- 
memorial. 

Among the various tribes the institution of marriage 
greatly depends for its circumstances upon the system 
of totemism, a custom which will be found fully 
described in the chapter which deals with the mytho- 
logy of the Red Race. This system places a taboo 
upon marriages between members of the same clan or 
other division of a tribe. The nature of the ceremony 
itself differs with locality and race. Among the Plains 
Indians polygamy was common, and the essential fea- 
ture of the ceremony was the presentation of gifts 
to the bride's father. In some tribes the husband 
had absolute power, and separation and divorce were 
common. But other Plains people were free from the 
purchase system, and the wishes of their women were 
consulted. East of the Mississippi the Iroquoian, 
Algonquian (except in the north and west), and Mus- 
khogean tribes retained descent of name and property 
in the female line. Exchange of gifts preceded marriage 
with these peoples. Among the Hurons a council of 
mothers arranged the unions of the members of the 
tribe. Monogamy, on the whole, prevailed throughout 
the continent ; and, generally speaking, the marriage 
bond was regarded rather loosely. 

Indian Child'Life 

One of the most pleasing features in Indian life is 
the great affection and solicitude bestowed by the 
parents upon their children. As a close student of 
Indian custom and habit avers, " The relation of 

73 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

parent to child brings out all the highest traits of 
Indian character." Withal, infant mortality is extra- 
ordinarily high, owing to the lack of sanitary measures. 
The father prepares the wooden cradle which is to be 
the infant's portable bed until it is able to walk. The 
papoose has first a child-name, which later gives place to 
the appellation which it will use through life. Children 
of both sexes have toys and games, the boys amusing 
themselves with riding and marksmanship, while the 
girls play with dolls and imitate their mothers 'keeping 
wigwam.' In warm weather a great deal of the children's 
time is spent in swimming and paddling. They are 
exceedingly fond of pets, particularly puppies, which 
they frequently dress and carry upon their backs like 
babies. Among some of the southern peoples small 
figures representing the various tribal deities are dis- 
tributed as dolls to the children at certain ceremonies, 
and the sacred traditions of the race are thus impressed 
upon them in tangible form. It is a mistake to think 
that the Indian child receives no higher instruction. 
This, however, is effected by moral suasion alone, and 
physical punishment is extremely rare. Great good- 
humour prevails among the children, and fighting and 
quarrelling are practically unknown. 

At about fifteen years of age the Indian boy under- 
takes a solitary fast and vigil, during which his totem 
or medicine spirit is supposed to instruct him regarding 
his future career. At about thirteen years of age the 
girl undergoes a like test, which signalizes her entrance 
into womanhood. 

Adventure with a Totem 

An account of the manner in which a young Indian 
beheld his totem states that the lad's father sent him 
to a mountain-top to look for Utonagan, the female 
7+ 




Adventure with a Totem 



74 



AN INDIAN GIRL'S VIGIL 

guardian spirit of his ancestors. At noon, on his 
arrival at the mountain, he heard the howls of the 
totem spirit, and commenced to ascend the slope, chilled 
by fear as the yells grew louder. He climbed a tree, 
and still heard the cries, and the rustle of the spirit in 
the branches below. Then terror overcame him, and 
he fled. Utonagan pursued him. She gained upon 
him, howling so that his knees gave way beneath him 
and he might not turn. Then he bethought him of 
one of his guardian spirits, and, with a fresh access of 
courage, he left his pursuer far behind. He cast away 
his blanket ; Utonagan reached it, and, after snuffing 
at it, took up the chase once more. Then he thought 
of his guardian spirit the wolf, and again new strength 
came to him. Still in great terror, he looked back. 
Utonagan followed with a wolf-like lope.. Then he 
thought of his guardian spirit the bitch, and once more 
he gained ground. At length, exhausted by his exer- 
tions, he sank to the earth in a fainting condition, and 
fell asleep. Through the eyes of sleep he saw the 
spirit as a wolf. She said to him : " I am she whom 
your family and the Indians call Utonagan. You are 
dear to me. Look at me, Indian." He looked, and 
lost his sense of fear. When he awoke the sun was 
high in the sky. He bathed in the creek and returned 
home. 

An Indian Girl's Vigil 

Another story is told of an Indian girl's vigil. 
Catherine Wabose, when about thirteen years of age, 
left her mother's lodge and built a small one for 
herself. After a fast of four days she was visited by her 
mother, who gave her a little snow-water to drink. 
On the eve of the sixth day, while still fasting, she 
was conscious of a superhuman voice, which invited 

75 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

her to walk along a shining path, which led forward 
and upward. There she first met the * Everlasting 
Standing Woman,' who gave her her * supernatural ' 
name. She next met the ' Little Man Spirit,' who 
told her that his name would be the name of her first 
son. She was next addressed by the * Bright Blue 
Sky,' who endowed her with the gift of life. She 
was then encircled by bright points of light and by 
sharp, painless instruments, but, mounting upon a fish- 
like animal, she swam through the air back to her 
lodge. On the sixth day she experienced a repetition 
of the vision. On the seventh day she was fed with a 
little pounded corn in snow-water. After the seventh 
day she beheld a large round object like a stone 
descend from the sky and enter the lodge. It con- 
ferred upon her the gift of prophecy, and by virtue of 
this she assumed the rank of a prophetess upon her 
return to the tribe. 

It is not difficult to suppose that the minds of these 
unfortunate children were temporarily deranged by the 
sustained fasts they had been forced to undertake. 

Picture'Writing 

Most of the tribes of North America had evolved a 
rude system of picture-writing. This consisted, for the 
most part, of figures of natural objects connected by 
symbols having arbitrary or fixed meanings. Thus the 
system was both ideographic and pictographic ; that 
is, it represented to some extent abstract ideas as well 
as concrete objects. These scripts possessed so many 
arbitrary characters, and again so many symbols which 
possessed different meanings under varying circum- 
stances, that to interpret them is a task of the 
greatest complexity. They were usually employed in 
the compilation of the seasonal calendars, and some- 
76 



PICTURE-WRITING 

times the records of the tribe were preserved by their 
means. 

Perhaps the best known specimen of Indian script is 
the Dakota ' Lone-dog Winter-count,' supposed to have 
been painted originally on a buffalo-robe. It is said to 
be a chronicle covering a period of seventy-one years 
from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Similar 
chronicles are the JVallum-Olum^ which are painted 
records of the Leni-Lenape, an Algonquian people, and 
the calendar history of the Kiowa. The former con- 
sists of several series, one of which records the doings 
of the tribes down to the time of the arrival of the 
European colonists at the beginning of the seventeenth 
century. We append an extract from the Wallum-Olum 
as a specimen of genuine aboriginal composition. The 
translation is that made by the late Professor Brinton. 

After the rushing waters had subsided, the Lenape of 
the Turtle were close together, in hollow houses, living 
together there- 
It freezes where they abode : it snows where they abode : 
it storms where they abode : it is cold where they abode. 

At this northern place, they speak favourably of mild, 
cool lands, with many deer and buffaloes. 

As they journeyed, some being strong, some rich, they 
separated into house-builders and hunters : 

The strongest, the most united, the purest were the 
hunters. 

The hunters showed themselves at the north, at the east, 
atthe south, at the west. 

In that ancient country, in that northern country, in that 
Turtle country, the best of Lenape were the Turtle-men. 
[That is, probably, men of the Turtle totem.] 

All the cabin fires of that land were disquieted, and all 
said to their priest : " Let us go." 

n 



78 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

To the Snake land, to the east, they went forth, going 
away, earnestly grieving. 

Split asunder, weak, trembling, their land burned : they 
went, torn and broken, to the Snake Island. 

Those from the north being free, without care, went forth 
from the land of snow, in different directions. 

The fathers of the Bald Eagle and the White Wolf remain 
along the sea, rich in fish and strength. 

Floating up the streams in their canoes, our fathers were 
rich, they were in the light, when they were at those 
islands. 

Head Beaver and Big Bird said : " Let us go to Snake 
Island," they said. 

All say they will go along to destroy all the land. 

Those of the north agreed, 
Those of the east agreed. 
Over the water, the frozen sea. 
They went to enjoy it. 

On the wonderful slippery water. 
On the stone-hard water all went. 
On the great tidal sea, the muscle-bearing sea. 

Ten thousand at night. 

All in one night, 

To the Snake Island, to the east, at night. 

They walk and walk, all of them. 

The men from the north, the east, the south : 

The Eagle clan, the Beaver clan, the Wolf clan. 

The best men, the rich men, the head men, 

Those with wives, those with daughters, those with dogs. 

They all come, they tarry at the land of the spruce-pines : 
Those from the west come with hesitation. 
Esteeming highly their old home at the Turtle land. 

There was no rain, and no corn, so they moved farther sea- 
ward. 

At the place of caves, in the Buffalo land, they at last had food, 
on a pleasant plain. 



The Lenape come to the Place of Caves yS 



MODERN EDUCATION AND CULTURE 

Modern Education and Culture 

After the establishment of the United States Govern- 
ment a number of Christian and lay bodies undertook 
the education and enlightenment of the aborigines. 
Until 1870 all Government aid for this object passed 
through the hands of missionaries, but in 1775 ^ 
committee on Indian affairs had been appointed by 
Congress, which voted funds to support Indian students 
at Dartmouth and Princeton Colleges. Many day- 
schools were provided for the Indians, and these aimed 
at fitting them for citizenship by inculcating in them 
the social manners and ethical ideas of the whites. 
The school established by Captain R. H. Pratt at 
Carlisle, Pa., for the purpose of educating Indian boys 
and girls has turned out many useful members of 
society. About 100 students receive higher instruc- 
tion in Hampton Institute. There are now 253 
Government schools for the education of Indian youth, 
involving an annual expenditure of five million dollars, 
and the patient efforts of the United States Govern- 
ment may be said to be crowned with triumph and 
success when the list of cultured Indian men and 
women who have attended these seminaries is perused. 
Many of these have achieved conspicuous success in 
industrial pursuits and in the higher walks of life. 



79 



CHAPTER II : THE MYTHOLOGIES OF 
THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS 

Animism 

ALL mythological systems spring from the same 
fundamental basis. The gods are the children 
of reverence and necessity. But their genea- 
logy stretches still farther back. Savage mian, unable to 
distinguish between the animate and inanimate, imagines 
every surrounding object to be, like himself, instinct 
with life. Trees, the winds, the river (which he names 
" the Long Person "), all possess life and conscious- 
ness in his eyes. The trees moan and rustle, there- 
fore they speak, or are, perchance, the dwelling-place 
of powerful spirits. The winds are full of words, 
sighings, warnings, threats, the noises, without doubt, 
of wandering powers, friendly or unfriendly beings. 
The water moves, articulates, prophesies, as, for 
example, did the Peruvian Rimac and Ipurimac — * the 
Oracles,' * the Prophesiers.' Even abstract qualities 
were supposed to possess the attributes of living things. 
Light and darkness, heat and cold, were regarded as 
active and alert agencies. The sky was looked upon 
as the All-Father from whose co-operation with the 
Mother Earth all living things had sprung. This 
condition of belief is known as * animism.' 

Totemism 

If inanimate objects and natural phenomena were 
endowed by savage imagination with the qualities of 
life and thought, the creatures of the animal world 
were placed upon a still higher level. The Indian, 
brought into contact with the denizens of the forest 
and prairie, conceived a high opinion of their quali- 
ties and instinctive abilities. He observed that they 
So 



TOTEMISM 

possessed greater cunning in forest-craft than himself, 
that their hunting instinct was much more sure, that 
they seldom suffered from lack of provisions, that they 
were more swift of foot. In short, he considered them 
to be his superiors in those faculties which he most 
coveted and admired. Various human attributes and 
characteristics became personified and even exaggerated 
in some of his neighbours of wood and plain. The 
fox was proverbial for craft, the wild cat for stealth, 
the bear for a wrong-headed stupidity, the owl for a 
cryptic wisdom, the deer for swiftness. In each of 
these attributes the several animals to whom they 
belonged appeared to the savage as more gifted than 
himself, and so deeply was he influenced by this 
seeming superiority that if he coveted a certain quality 
he would place himself under the protection of the 
animal or bird which symbolized it. Again, if a tribe 
or clan possessed any special characteristic, such as 
fierceness or cunning, it was usually called by its 
neighbours after the bird or beast which symbolized 
its character. A tribe would learn its nickname from 
captives taken in war ; or it might even bestow such 
an appellation upon itself. After the lapse of a few 
generations the members of a tribe would regard the 
animal whose qualities they were supposed to possess 
as their direct ancestor, and would consider that all the 
members of his species were their blood-relations. 
This belief is known as totemism, and its adoption was 
the means of laying the foundation of a widespread 
system of tribal rule and custom, by which marriage 
and many of the affairs of life were and are wholly 
governed. Probably all European and Asiatic peoples 
have passed through this stage, and its remains are 
to be found deeply embedded in our present social 
system. 

8i 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Totemic Law and Custom 

Few generations would elapse before the sense of 
ancestral devotion to the totem or eponymous fore- 
father of the tribe would become so strong as to be 
exalted into a fully developed system of worship of 
him as a deity. That the totem develops into the god 
is proved by the animal likeness and attributes of many 
deities in lands widely separate. It accounts for the 
jackal- and ibis-headed gods of Egypt, the bull-like 
deities of Assyria, the bestial gods of Hindustan — 
possibly even for the owl which accompanied the 
Grecian Pallas, for does not Homer speak of her as 
* owl-eyed ' : May not this goddess have developed 
from an owl totem, and may not the attendant bird of 
night which perches on her shoulder have been per- 
mitted to remain as a sop to her devotees in her more 
ancient form, who objected to her portrayal as a human 
being, and desired that some reminder of her former 
shape might be preserved ? That our British ancestors 
possessed a totemic system is undoubted. Were not 
the clan Chattan of the Scottish Highlands the " sons 
of the cat " ? In the Dean of Lismore s Book we read 
of a tribe included under the " sons to the king of 
Rualay" one battalion of whom was * cat-headed,' or 
wore the totem crest of the cat. The swine-gods and 
other animal deities possessed by the British Celts assist 
this theory, as do the remains of many folk-customs 
in England and Scotland. Our crests are but so many 
family symbols which have come down to us from the 
distant days when our forefathers painted them upon 
their shields or wore them upon their helmets as the 
badge of their tribe, and thus of its supposed beast- 
progenitor or protector. 

As has been said, a vast and intricate system of tribal 
82 



SEVERITY OF TOXEMIC RULE 

law and custom arose from the adoption of totemism. 
The animal from which the tribe took its name might not 
be killed or eaten, because of its blood-kinship with the 
clan. Descent from this ancestor postulated kinship 
between the various members of the tribe, male and 
female ; therefore the female members were not eligible 
for marriage with the males, who had perforce to seek for 
wives elsewhere. This often led to the partial adoption 
of another tribe or family in the vicinity, and of its 
totem, in order that a suitable exchange of women 
might be made as occasion required, and thus to the 
inclusion of two gentes or divisions within the tribe, 
each with its different totem-name, yet each regarding 
itself as a division of the tribal family. Thus a member 
of the * Fox ' gens might not marry a woman of his 
own division, but must seek a bride from the ' Bears,' 
and similarly a * Bear ' tribesman must find a wife from 
among the * Foxes.' 

Severity of Totemic Rule 

The utmost severity attached to the observation ot 
totemic law and custom, to break which was regarded 
as a serious crime. Indeed, no one ever thought of 
infringing it, so powerful are habit and the force of 
association. It is not necessary to specify here the 
numerous customs which may be regarded as the out- 
come of the totemic system, for many of these have 
little in common with mythology proper. It will suffice 
to say that they were observed with a rigour beside 
which the rules of the religions of civilized peoples 
appear lax and indulgent. As this system exercised 
such a powerful influence on Indian life and thought, 
the following passage from the pen of a high authority 
on Indian totemism may be quoted with advantage : ^ 
^ J. R. Swanton, in Handbook oj the North American Indians. 

83 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

"The native American Indian, holding peculiar self- 
centred views as to the unity and continuity of all life 
and the consequent inevitable interrelations of the 
several bodies and beings in nature, especially of man 
to the beings and bodies of his experience and environ- 
ment, to whom were imputed by him various anthropo- 
morphic attributes and functions in addition to those 
naturally inherent in them, has developed certain funda- 
mentally important cults, based on those views, that 
deeply affect his social, religious, and civil institutions. 
One of these doctrines is that persons and organizations 
of persons are one and all under the protecting and 
fostering tutelage of some imaginary being or spirit. 
These tutelary or patron beings may be grouped, by the 
mode and motive of their acquirement and their func- 
tions, into two fairly well defined groups or classes : 
(i) those which protect individuals only, and (2) those 
which protect organizations of persons. But with these 
two classes of tutelary beings is not infrequently con- 
founded another class of protective imaginary beings, 
commonly called fetishes, which are regarded as powerful 
spiritual allies of their possessors. Each of these several 
classes of guardian beings has its own peculiar tradi- 
tions, beliefs, and appropriate cult. The modes of the 
acquirement and the motives for the acquisition of these 
several classes of guardian beings differ in some funda- 
mental and essential respects. The exact method of 
acquiring the clan or gentile group patrons or tutelaries 
is still an unsolved problem, although several plausible 
theories have been advanced by astute students to 
explain the probable mode of obtaining them. With 
respect to the personal tutelary and the fetish, the data 
are sufficiently clear and full to permit a satisfactory 
description and definition of these two classes of tutelary 
and auxiliary beings. From the available data bearing 
84 



SEVERITY OF TOXEMIC RULE 

on this subject, it would seem that much confusion 
regarding the use and acquirement of personal and 
communal tutelaries or patron beings has arisen by 
regarding certain social, political, and religious activities 
as due primarily to the influence of these guardian deities, 
when in fact those features were factors in the social 
organization on which has been later imposed the cult of 
the patron or guardian spirit. Exogamy, names and class 
names, and various taboos exist where * totems ' and 
* totemism,' the cults of the guardian spirits, do not exist. 
" Some profess to regard the clan or gentile group 
patron or tutelary as a mere development of the per- 
sonal guardian, but from the available but insufficient 
data bearing on the question it appears to be, in some of 
its aspects, more closely connected in origin, or rather 
in the method of its acquisition, with the fetish, the 
Iroquois otchina ken da, * an effective agency of sorcery,' 
than with any form of the personal tutelary. This 
patron spirit of course concerns the group regarded as 
a body, for with regard to each person of the group, 
the clan or gentile guardian is inherited, or rather 
acquired by birth, and it may not be changed at will. 
On the other hand, the personal tutelary is obtained 
through the rite of vision in a dream or a trance, and 
it must be preserved at all hazards as one of the most 
precious possessions. The fetish is acquired by personal 
choice, by purchase, or by inheritance, or from some 
chance circumstance or emergency, and it can be sold 
or discarded at the will of the possessor in most cases ; 
the exception is where a person has entered into a 
compact with some evil spirit or being that, in considera- 
tion of human or other sacrifices in its honour at stated 
periods, the said spirit undertakes to perform certain 
obligations to this man or woman, and in default of 
which the person forfeits his right to live. 

G 85 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

" ' Totemism ' is a purely philosophical term which 
modern anthropological literature has burdened with a 
great mass of needless controversial speculation and 
opinion. The doctrine and use of tutelary or patron 
guardian spirits by individuals and by organized bodies 
of persons are defined by Powell as 'a method of 
naming,' and as * the doctrine and system of naming.' 
But the motive underlying the acquisition and use of 
guardian or tutelary spirits, whether by an individual or 
by an organized body of persons, is always the same — 
namely, to obtain welfare and to avoid ill-fare. So it 
appears to be erroneous to define this cult as ' the 
doctrine and system of naming.' It is rather the recog- 
nition, exploitation, and adjustment of the imaginary 
mystic relation of the individual or of the body of 
organized persons to the postulated orendas^ mystic 
powers, surrounding each of these units of native 
society. With but few exceptions, the recognized 
relation between the clan or gens and its patron deity is 
not one of descent or source, but rather that of protec- 
tion, guardianship, and support. The relationship as to 
source between these two classes of superior beings is 
not yet determined ; so to avoid confusion in concepts, 
it is better to use distinctive names for them, until their 
connexion, if any, has been definitely ascertained : this 
question must not be prejudged. The hypothetic 
inclusion of these several classes in a general one, 
branded with the rubric ' totem ' or its equivalent, has 
led to needless confusion. The native tongues have 
separate names for these objects, and until the native 
classification can be truthfully shown to be erroneous 
it would seem to be advisable to designate them by 
distinctive names. Notwithstanding the great amount 
of study of the literature of the social features of 
aboriginal American society, there are many data rela- 
86 



FETISHISM 

tive to this subject that have been overlooked or 
disregarded." 

Fetishism 

Side by side with animism and totemism flourishes a 
third type of primitive belief, known as * fetishism.' 
This word is derived from the Portuguese feiti(o^ *a 
charm,' * something made by art,' and is applied to any 
object, large or small, natural or artificial, regarded as 
possessing consciousness, volition, and supernatural 
qualities, and especially orenda, or magic power. 

As has been said, the Indian intelligence regards 
all things, animals, water, the earth, trees, stones, 
the heavenly bodies, even night and day, and such 
properties as light and darkness, as possessing anima- 
tion and the power of volition. It is, however, the 
general Indian belief that many of these are under some 
spell or potent enchantment. The rocks and trees are 
confidently believed by the Indian to be the living 
tombs of imprisoned spirits, resembling the dryads of 
Greek folk-lore, so that it is not difficult for him to 
conceive an intelligence, more or less potent, in any 
object, no matter how uncommon — indeed, the more 
uncommon the greater the probability of its being the 
abode of some powerful intelligence, incarcerated for 
revenge or some similar motive by the spell of a mighty 
enchanter. 

The fetish is, in short, a mascot — a luck-bringer. 
The civilized person who attaches a swastika or small 
charm to his watch-chain or her bangle is unconsciously 
following in the footsteps of many pagan ancestors ; 
but with this difference, that the idea that * luck ' 
resides in the trinket is weak in the civilized mind, 
whereas in the savage belief the ' luck ' resident in the 
fetish is a powerful and living thing — an intelligence 

87 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

which must be placated with prayer, feast, and sacrifice. 
Fetishes which lose their reputations as bringers of 
good-fortune usually degenerate into mere amulets or 
talismanic ornaments, and their places are taken by 
others. The fetish differs from the class of tutelary or 
* household ' gods in that it may be sold or bartered, 
whereas tutelary or domestic deities are never to be 
purchased, or even loaned. 

Fetish Objects 

Nearly all the belongings of a shaman^ or medicine- 
man, are classed as fetishes by the North American 
Indians. These usually consist of the skins of beasts, 
birds, and serpents, roots, bark, powder, and number- 
less other objects. But the fetish must be altogether 
divorced from the idea of religion proper, with which 
it has little or no connexion, being found side by side 
with religious phases of many types. The fetish may 
be a bone, a feather, an arrow-head, a stick, carved or 
painted, a fossil, a tuft of hair, a necklace of fingers, a 
stuffed skin, the hand of an enemy, anything which 
might be suggested to the original possessor in a dream 
or a flight of imagination. It is sometimes fastened to 
the scalp-lock, to the dress, to the bridle, concealed 
between the layers of a shield, or specially deposited 
in a shrine in the wigwam. The idea in the mind 
of the original maker is usually symbolic, and is 
revealed only to one formally chosen as heir to the 
magical possession, and pledged in his turn to a similar 
secrecy. 

Notwithstanding that the cult of fetishism is not, 
strictly speaking, a department of religious activity, a 
point exists at which the fetish begins to evolve into a 
god. This happens when the object survives the test 
of experience and achieves a more than personal or 
88 



APACHE FETISHES 

tribal popularity. Nevertheless the fetish partakes 
more of the nature of those spirits which are subservient 
to man (for example, the Arabian jinn) than of gods 
proper, and if it is prayed and sacrificed to on occa- 
sion, the * prayers ' are rather of the nature of a magical 
invocation, and the * sacrifices ' no more than would 
be accorded to any other assisting agent. Thus sharply 
must we diflferentiate between a fetish or captive spirit 
and a god. But it must be further borne in mind that 
a fetish is not necessarily a piece of personal property. 
It may belong collectively to an entire community. It 
is not necessarily a small article, but may possess all the 
appearances of a full-blown idol. An idol, however, is 
the abode of a god — the image into which a deity may 
materialize. A fetish, on the other hand, is the place of 
imprisonment of a subservient spirit, which cannot escape, 
and, if it would gain the rank of godhead, must do so 
by a long series of luck-bringing, or at least by the 
performance of a number of marvels of a protective or 
fortune-making nature. It is not unlikely that a belief 
exists in the Indian mind that there are many wandering 
spirits who, in return for food and other comforts, are 
willing to materialize in the shape the savage provides 
for them, and to assist him in the chase and other 
pursuits of life. 

Apache Fetishes 

Among the Athapascan Indians the Apaches, both 
male and female, wear fetishes which they call tzi-daltai, 
manufactured from lightning-riven wood, generally pine 
or cedar, or fir from the mountains. These are highly 
valued, and are never sold. They are shaved very thin, 
rudely carved in the semblance of the human form, and 
decorated with incised lines representing the lightning. 
They are small in size, and few of them are painted. 

89 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Bourke describes one that an Apache chief carried about 
with him, which was made of a piece of lath, unpainted, 
having a figure in yellow drawn upon it, with a narrow 
black band and three snake's heads with white eyes. It 
was further decorated with pearl buttons and small 
eagle-down feathers. The reverse and obverse were 
identical. 

Many of the Apaches i attached a piece of malachite 
to their guns and bows to make them shoot accurately. 
Bourke mentions a class of fetishes which he terms 

* phylacteries.' These are pieces of buckskin or other 
material upon which are inscribed certain characters or 
symbols of a religious or * medicine ' nature, and they 
are worn attached to the person who seeks benefit 
from them. They differ from the ordinary fetish in 
that they are concealed from the public gaze. These 

* phylacteries,' Bourke says, "themselves medicine," 
may be employed to enwrap other ' medicine,' and " thus 
augment their own potentialities." He describes several 
of these objects. One worn by an Indian named Ta-ul- 
tzu-je "was tightly rolled in at least half a mile ot 
saddler's silk, and when brought to light was found to 
consist of a small piece of buckskin two inches square, 
upon which were drawn red and yellow crooked lines, 
which represented the red and yellow snake. Inside 
were a piece of malachite and a small cross of lightning- 
riven pine, and two very small perforated shells. The 
cross they designated ' the black mind.' " Another 

* phylactery ' consisted of a tiny bag of hoddentin, 
holding a small quartz crystal and four feathers of 
eagle-down. This charm, it was explained by an Indian, 
contained not merely the ' medicine ' of the crystal 
and the eagle, but also that of the black bear, the white 
lion, and the yellow snake. 

90 



FETISHISM AMONG THE ALGONQUINS 

Iroquoian Fetishes 

Things that seem at all unusual are accepted by the 
Hurons, a tribe of the Iroquois, as oky^ or super- 
natural, and therefore it is accounted lucky to find 
them. In hunting, if they find a stone or other object 
in the entrails of an animal they at once make a fetish 
of it. Any object of a peculiar shape they treasure for 
the same reason. They greatly fear that demons or 
evil spirits will purloin their fetishes, which they esteem 
so highly as to propitiate them in feasts and invoke 
them in song. The highest type of fetish obtainable 
by a Huron was a piece of the onniont, or great 
armoured serpent, a mythological animal revered by 
many North American tribes. 

Fetishism among the Algonquins 

Hoffmann states that at the * medicine ' lodges of 
some Algonquian tribes there are preserved fetishes or 
amulets worn above the elbows, consisting of strands 
of bead-work, metal bands, or skunk skins, while 
bracelets of shells, buckskin, or metal are also worn. A 
great tribal fetish of the Cheyenne was their ' medicine ' 
arrow, which was taken from them by the Pawnees in 
battle. The head of this arrow projects from the bag 
which contains it, and it is covered with delicate waved 
or spiral lines, which denote its sacred character. It 
was, indeed, the palladium of the tribe. A peculiar 
type of fetish consisted of a mantle made from the 
skin of a deer and covered with feathers mixed with 
headings. It was made and used by the medicine-men 
as a mantle of invisibility, or charmed covering to enable 
spies to traverse an enemy's country in security. In this 
instance the fetishistic power depended upon the devices 
drawn upon the article. The principal fetishes among 

9« 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

the Hidatsa tribe of the Sioux are the skins of foxes 
and wolves, the favourite worn fetish being the stripe 
from the back of a wolf-skin with the tail hanging 
down the shoulders. A slit is made in the skin, 
through which the warrior puts his head, so that the 
skin of the wolf's head hangs down upon his breast. 
The most common tribal fetishes of the Sioux are, 
or were, buffalo heads, the neck-bones of which they 
preserve in the belief that the buffalo herds will thereby 
be prevented from removing to too great a distance. 
At certain periods they perform a ceremony with these 
bones, which consists in taking a potsherd filled with 
embers, throwing sweet-smelling grease upon it, and 
fumigating the bones with the smoke. There are 
certain trees and stones which are regarded as fetishes. 
To these offerings of red cloth, red paint, and other 
articles are made. Each individual has his personal 
fetish, and it is carried in all hunting and warlike 
excursions. It usually consists of a head, claws, stuffed 
skin, or other representative feature of the fetish 
animal. Even the horses are provided with fetishes, 
in the shape of a deer's horn, to ensure their swiftness. 
The rodent teeth of the beaver are regarded as potent 
charms, and are worn by little girls round their necks 
to make them industrious. 

At Sikyatki, in Arizona, a territorial nucleus of 
the Hopi Indians, Mr. Fewkes had opportunities of 
inspecting many interesting fetish forms. A number 
of these discovered in native graves were pebbles 
with a polished surface, or having a fancied resem- 
blance to some animal shape. Many of the personal 
fetishes of the Hopi consist of fossils, some of which 
attain the rank of tribal fetishes and are wrapped up in 
sacred bundles, which are highly venerated. In one grave 
was found a single large fetish in the shape of a mountain 
92 



THE SUN'CHILDREN 

lion, made of sandstone, in which legs, ears, tail, and 
eyes are represented, the mouth still showing the red 
pigment with which it had been coloured. This is 
almost identical with some fetishes used by the Hopi 
at the present day. 

Totemism and Fetishism Meet 

Fetishism among the Zuni Indians of the south 

o 

arose from an idea they entertained that they were 
kin with animals; in other words, their fetishes were 
totemistic. Totemism and fetishism were by no means 
incompatible with one another, but often flourished 
side by side. Fetishism of the Zuni description is, 
indeed, the natural concomitant of a totemic system. 
Zuni fetishes are usually concretions of lime or objects 
in which a natural resemblance to animals has been 
heightened by artificial means. Ancient fetishes are much 
valued by these people, and are often found by them in 
the vicinity of villages inhabited by their ancestors, and 
as tribal possessions are handed down from one genera- 
tion to another. The medicine-men believe them to be 
the actual petrifactions of the animals they represent. 

The Sun-Children 

The Zuni philosophy of the fetish is given in the 
" Tale of the Two Sun-Children " as follows : " Now 
that the surface of the earth was hardened even the 
animals of prey, powerful and like the fathers [gods] 
themselves, would have devoured the children of 
men, and the two thought it was not well that they 
should all be permitted to live, for, said they, 'Alike 
the children of men and the children of the animals of 
prey multiply themselves. The animals of prey are 
provided with talons and teeth ; men are but poor, 
the finished beings of earth, therefore the weaker.' 

93 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Whenever they came across the pathway of one of 
these animals, were he a great mountain lion or but a 
mere mole, they struck him with the fire of lightning 
which they carried on their magic shields. Thlu ! and 
instantly he was shrivelled and turned into stone. 
Then said they to the animals that they had changed 
into stone, ' That ye may not be evil unto man, but 
that ye may be a great good unto them, have we 
changed you into rock everlasting. By the magic 
breath of prey, by the heart that shall endure for ever 
within you, shall ye be made to serve instead of to 
devour mankind,' Thus was the surface of the earth 
hardened and scorched, and many of all kinds of 
beings changed to stone. Thus, too, it happens 
that we find here and there throughout the world their 
forms, sometimes large, like the beings themselves, 
sometimes shrivelled and distorted, and we often see 
among the rocks the forms of many beings that live no 
longer, which shows us that all was different in the 
*days of the new.' Of these petrifactions, which are, 
of course, mere concretions or strangely shaped rock- 
forms, the Zuni say : * Whomsoever of us may be met 
with the light of such great good-fortune may see 
them, and should treasure them for the sake of the 
sacred [magic] power which was given them in the 
days of the new.' " ^ 

The Prey'Gods 

This tradition furnishes additional evidence relative 
to the preceding statement, and is supposed to enlighten 
the Zuni Indian as to wherein lies the power of fetishes. 
It is thought that the hearts of the great animals of 
prey are infused with a ' medicinal ' or magic influence 
over the hearts of the animals they prey upon, and 

^ Cushing's Zuni Fetiches (1883). 
94 



THE PREY-GODS 

that they overcome them with their breath, piercing 
their hearts and quite numbing them. Moreover, 
their roar is fatal to the senses of the lower beasts. 
The mountain lion absorbs the blood of the game 
animals, therefore he possesses their acute senses. 
Again, those powers, as derived from his heart, are 
preserved in his fetish, since his heart still lives, even 
although his body be changed to stone. It happens, 
therefore, that the use of these fetishes is chiefly 
connected with the chase. But there are exceptions. 
The great animals of the chase, although fetishistic, 
are also regarded as supernatural beings, the mytho- 
logical position of which is absolutely defined. In the 
City of the Mists lives Po-shai-an-K'ia, father of the 
* medicine ' societies, a culture-hero deity, whose abode 
is guarded by six beings known as the ' Prey-Gods,' 
and it is their counterfeit presentments that are made 
use of as fetishes. To the north of the City of the 
Mists dwells the Mountain Lion prey-god, to the 
west the Bear, to the south the Badger, to the east 
the Wolf, above the Eagle, below the Mole. These 
animals possess not only the guardianship of the six 
regions, but also the mastership of the * medicine ' or 
magic powers which emanate from them. They are 
the mediators between Po-shai-an-K'ia and man. The 
prey-gods, as * Makers of the Path of Life,' are given 
high rank among the gods, but notwithstanding this 
their fetishes are " held as in captivity " by the priests 
of the various * medicine ' orders, and greatly venerated 
by them as mediators between themselves and the 
animals they represent. In this character they are 
exhorted with elaborate prayers, rituals, and cere- 
monials, and sometimes placated with sacrifices of 
the prey-gods of the hunt {we-ma-a-ha-i). Their 
special priests are the members of the Great Coyote 

95 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

People — that is, they consist of eleven members of the 
Eagle and Coyote clans and of the Prey Brothers 
priesthood. These prey-gods appear to be almost 
unique, and may be indicated as an instance of fetishism 
becoming allied with religious belief. They depict, 
with two exceptions, the same species of prey animals 
as those supposed to guard the six regions, the ex- 
ceptions being the coyote and the wild cat. These six 
prey animals are subdivided into six varieties. They 
are, strictly speaking, the property of the priests, and 
members and priests of the sacred societies are required 
to deposit their fetishes, when not in use, with the 
Keeper of the Medicine of the Deer. These * medi- 
cines ' or memberships alone can perfect the shape ot 
the fetishes and worship them. 

The Council of Fetishes 

The Day of the Council of the Fetishes takes place 
a little before or after the winter solstice or national 
New Year. The fetishes are taken from their places 
of deposit, and arranged according to species and 
colour in the form of a symbolic altar, quadrupeds 
being placed upright and birds suspended from the 
roof. The fetishes are prayed to, and prayer-meal is 
scattered over them. Chants are intoned, and a dance 
performed in which the cries of the fetish beasts are 
imitated. A prayer with responses follows. Finally all 
assemble round the altar and repeat the great invocation. 

The Fetish in Hunting 

The use of fetishes in hunting among the Zuni is 
extremely curious and involved in its nature. The 
hunter goes to the house of the Deer Medicine, where 
the vessel containing the fetish is brought out and 
placed before him. He sprinkles meal over the sacred 
96 



INDIAN THEOLOGY 

vessel in the direction in which he intends to hunt, 
chooses a fetish from it, and presses it to his lips with 
an inspiration. He then places the fetish in a buckskin 
bag over his heart. Proceeding to the hunt, he deposits 
a spider-knot of yucca leaves where an animal has 
rested, imitates its cry, and is supposed by this means 
to confine its movements within a narrow circle. He 
then inspires deeply from the nostrils of the fetish, as 
though inhaling the magic breath of the god of prey, 
and then puffs the breath long and loudly in the 
direction whence the beast's tracks trend, in the belief 
that the breath he has borrowed from the prey-god 
will stiffen the limbs of the animal he hunts. When 
the beast is caught and killed he inhales its suspiring 
breath, which he breathes into the nostrils of the fetish. 
He then dips the fetish in the blood of the slain quarry, 
sips the blood himself, and devours the liver, in order 
that he may partake of the animal's qualities. The fetish 
is then placed in the sun to dry, and lastly replaced in 
the buckskin pouch with a blessing, afterward being 
duly returned to the Keeper of the Deer Medicine. 

Indian Theology 

The late Professor Brinton, writing on the Indian 
attitude toward the eternal verities, says : ^ 

" Nature, to the heathen, is no harmonious whole 
swayed by eternal principles, but a chaos of causeless 
effects, the meaningless play of capricious ghosts. He 
investigates not, because he doubts not. All events 
are to him miracles. Therefore his faith knows no 
bounds, and those who teach him that doubt is sinful 
must contemplate him with admiration. . . . 

" Natural religions rarely offer more than this 
negative opposition to reason. They are tolerant to 

^ Mphi of the 'New World. 

97 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

a degree. The savage, void of any clear conception of 
a supreme deity, sets up no claim that his is the only 
true church. If he is conquered in battle he imagines 
that it is owing to the inferiority of his own gods to 
those of his victor, and he rarely, therefore, requires 
any other reasons to make him a convert. 

" In this view of the relative powers of deities lay a 
potent corrective to the doctrine that the fate of man 
was dependent on the caprices of the gods. For no 
belief was more universal than that which assigned 
to each individual a guardian spirit. This invisible 
monitor was an ever-present help in trouble. He 
suggested expedients, gave advice and warning in 
dreams, protected in danger, and stood ready to foil 
the machinations of enemies, divine or human. 

" With^ unlimited faith in this protector, attributing 
to him the devices suggested by his own quick wits 
and the fortunate chances of life, the savage escaped 
the oppressive thought that he was the slave of demoniac 
forces, and dared the dangers of the forest and the war- 
path without anxiety. 

"By far the darkest side of such a religion is that 
which it presents to morality. The religious sense is 
by no means the voice of conscience. The Takahli 
Indian when sick makes a full and free confession of 
sins, but a murder, however unnatural and unprovoked, 
he does not mention, not counting it a crime. Scenes 
of licentiousness were approved and sustained through- 
out the continent as acts of worship ; maidenhood was 
in many parts freely offered up or claimed by the 
priests as a right ; in Central America twins were slain 
for religious motives ; human sacrifice was common 
throughout the tropics, and was not unusual in higher 
latitudes ; cannibalism was often enjoined ; and in 
Peru, Florida, and Central America it was not un- 



INDIAN THEOLOGY 

common for parents to slay their own children at the 
behest of a priest. 

" The philosophical moralist contemplating such 
spectacles has thought to recognize in them one con- 
soling trait. All history, it has been said, shows man 
living under an irritated God, and seeking to appease 
him by sacrifice of blood ; the essence of all religion, 
it has been added, lies in that of which sacrifice is the 
symbol — namely, in the offering up of self, in the 
rendering up of our will to the will of God. 

" But sacrifice, when not a token of gratitude, can- 
not be thus explained. It is not a rendering up, but 
a substitution of our will for God's will. A deity is 
angered by neglect of his dues ; he will revenge, cer- 
tainly, terribly, we know not how or when. But as 
punishment is all he desires, if we punish ourselves he 
will be satisfied ; and far better is such self-inflicted 
torture than a fearful looking-for of judgment to come. 
Craven fear, not without some dim sense of the im- 
placability of nature's laws, is at its roots. 

" Looking only at this side of religion, the ancient 
philosopher averred that the gods existed solely in the 
apprehensions of their votaries, and the moderns have 
asserted that * fear is the father of religion, love her 
late-born daughter ' ; that ' the first form of religious 
belief is nothing else but a horror of the unknown,' 
and that ' no natural religion appears to have been able 
to develop from a germ within itself anything whatever 
of real advantage to civilization.' 

" Looking around for other standards wherewith to 
measure the progress ot the knowledge of divinity in 
the New World, /r^jy^r suggests itself as one of the least 
deceptive. ' Prayer,' to quote the words of Novalis, 
* is in religion what thought is in philosophy. The 
religious sense prays, as the reason thinks.' Guizot, 

99 



SMYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

carrying the analysis farther, thinks that it is prompted 
by a painful conviction of the inability of our will to 
conform to the dictates of reason. 

" Originally it was connected with the belief that 
divine caprice, not divine law, governs the universe, 
and that material benefits rather than spiritual gifts are 
to be desired. The gradual recognition of its limita- 
tions and proper objects marks religious advancement. 
The Lord's Prayer contains seven petitions, only one 
of which is for a temporal advantage, and it the least 
that can be asked for. 

" What immeasurable interval between it and the 
prayer of the Nootka Indian preparing for war: 

" ' Great Quahootze, let me live, not be sick, find the 
enemy, not fear him, find him asleep, and kill a great 
many of him.' 

" Or, again, between it and a petition of a Huron to 
a local god, heard by Father Brebeuf : 

"*Oki, thou who liveth in this spot, I offer thee 
tobacco. Help us, save us from shipwreck, defend us 
from our enemies, give us a good trade and bring us 
back safe and sound to our villages.' 

" This is a fair specimen of the supplications of the 
lowest religions. Another equally authentic is given 
by Father Allouez. In 1670 he penetrated to an out- 
lying Algonkin village, never before visited by a white 
man. The inhabitants, startled by his pale face and 
long black gown, took him for a divinity. They 
invited him to the council lodge, a circle of old men 
gathered round him, and one of them, approaching him 
with a double handful of tobacco, thus addressed him, 
the others grunting approval : 

" ' This indeed is well, Blackrobe, that thou dost 
visit us. Have mercy upon us. Thou art a Manito. 
We give thee to smoke. 

TOO 



THE INDIAN IDEA OF GOD 

" * The Naudowessies and Iroquois are devouring us. 
Have mercy upon us. 

" * We are often sick ; our children die ; we are 
hungry. Have mercy upon us. Hear me, O Manito, 
I give thee to smoke. 

" ' Let the earth yield us corn ; the rivers give us 
fish ; sickness not slay us ; nor hunger so torment us. 
Hear us, O Manito, we give thee to smoke.' 

" In this rude but touching petition, wrung from the 
heart of a miserable people, nothing but their wretched- 
ness is visible. Not the faintest trace of an aspiration 
for spiritual enlightenment cheers the eye of the phil- 
anthropist, not the remotest conception that through 
suffering we are purified can be detected." 

The Indian Idea of God 

The mythologies of the several stocks of the Red 
Race differ widely in conception and detail, and this has 
led many hasty investigators to form the conclusion 
that they were therefore of separate origin. But careful 
study has proved that they accord with all great mytho- 
logical systems in their fundamental principles, and 
therefore with each other. The idea of God, often 
strange and grotesque perhaps, was nevertheless power- 
fully expressed in the Indian mythologies. Each division 
of the race possessed its own word to signify * spirit.* 
Some of these words meant * that which is above,' * the 
higher one,' ' the invisible,' and these attributes accorded 
to deity show that the original Indian conception of it 
was practically the same as those which obtained among 
the primitive peoples of Europe and Asia. The idea 
of God was that of a great prevailing force who resided 
"in the sky." Savage or primitive man observes that 
all brightness emanates from the firmament above him. 
His eyes are dazzled by its splendour. Therefore he 

H lOI 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

concludes that it must be the abode of the source of 
all life, of all spiritual excellence. 

* Good ' and * Bad * 

Before man has discovered the uses of that higher 
machinery of reason, philosophy, and has learned to 
marshal his theological ideas by its light, such deities 
as he worships conform very much to his own ethical 
standard. They mirror his morality, or lack of it. 
They are, like himself, savage, cruel, insatiable in their 
appetites. Very likely, too, the bestial attributes ot 
the totemic gods cling to those deities who have been 
evolved out of that system. Among savage people 
ideas of good and evil as we conceive them are non- 
existent. To them ' good ' merely implies everything 
which is to their advantage, ' evil ' that which injures or 
distresses them. It is only when such a system as 
totemism, with its intricate taboos and stringent laws 
bearing on the various relationships of life, comes to be 
adopted that a * moral ' order arises. Slaughter of the 
totem animal becomes a ' crime ' — sacrilege. Slaughter 
of a member of the totem clan, of a blood-brother, must 
be atoned for because he is of the totem blood. Mar- 
riage with a woman of the same totem blood becomes an 
offence. Neglect to pay fitting homage and sacrifice to 
the gods or totem is regarded with severity, especially 
when the evolution of a priestly caste has been achieved. 
As the totem is an ancestor, so all ancestors are looked 
upon with reverence, and deference to living progenitors 
becomes a virtue. In such ways a code of ' morality ' is 
slowly but certainly produced. 

No *Good* Of *Bad* Gods 

But, oddly enough, the gods arc usually exempt 
from these laws by which their worshippers are bound. 



NO *GOOD' OR 'BAD* GODS 

We find them murderous, unfilial, immoral, poly- 
gamous, and often irreverent. This may be accounted 
for by the circumstance that their general outlines were 
filled in before totemism had become a fully developed 
system, or it may mean that the savage did not believe 
that divine beings could be fettered by such laws as he 
felt himself bound to obey. However that may be, 
we find the American gods neither better nor worse 
than those of other mythological systems. Some of 
them are prone to a sort of Puckish trickery and 
are fond of practical joking : they had not reached 
the exalted nobility of the pantheon of Olympus. But 
what is more remarkable — and this applies to the deities 
of all primitive races — we find that they possess no 
ideas of good and evil. We find them occasionally 
worshipping gods of their own — usually the creative 
deities — and that may perhaps be accounted unto them 
for righteousness. But they are only ' good ' to their 
worshippers inasmuch as they ensure them abundant 
crops or game, and only ' bad ' when they cease to do 
so. They are not worshipped because they are the 
founts of truth and justice, but for the more immediately 
cogent reason that, unless placated by the steam of 
sacrifice, they will cease to provide an adequate food- 
supply to man, and may malevolently send destruction 
upon their neglectful worshippers. In the relations 
between god and man among early peoples a specific 
contract is implied : " Sacrifice unto us, provide us 
with those offerings the steam of which is our food, 
continue to do so, and we will see to it that you do 
not lack crops and game and the essentials of life. 
Fail to observe these customs and you perish." Under 
such a system it will readily be granted that such horrors 
as human sacrifice were only undertaken because they 
were thought to be absolutely necessary to the existence 

103 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of the race las a whole, and were not prompted by any- 
mere wanton delight in bloodshed. 

Dealing with this point, the late Professor Brinton 
says in his Myths of the New World : 

" The confusion of these distinct ideas [monotheism 
and polytheism] has led to much misconception of the 
native creeds. But another and more fatal error was 
that which distorted them into a dualistic form, rang- 
ing on one hand the good spirit with his legion ot 
angels, on the other the evil one with his swarm ot 
fiends, representing the world as the scene of their 
unending conflict, man as the unlucky football who gets 
all the blows. 

" This notion, which has its historical origin among 
theParsees of ancient Iran, is unknown to savage nations. 
' The Hidatsa,' says Dr. Matthews, ' believe neither in 
a hell nor a devil.' *The idea of the devil,' justly 
observes Jacob Grimm, * is foreign to all primitive 
religions.' Yet Professor Mueller, in his voluminous 
work on those of America, after approvingly quoting 
this saying, complacently proceeds to classify the deities 
as good or bad spirits ! 

" This view, which has obtained without question in 
earlier works on the native religions of America, has 
arisen partly from habits of thought difficult to break, 
partly from mistranslations of native words, partly from 
the foolish axiom of the early missionaries, * The gods 
of the Gentiles are devils.' Yet their own writings 
furnish conclusive proof that no such distinction existed 
out of their own fancies. The same word (o//^o>^) which 
Father Bruyas employs to translate into Iroquois the 
term ' devil,' in the passage * The devil took upon him- 
self the figure of a serpent,' he is obliged to use for 
* spirit ' in the phrase, ' At the resurrection we shall be 
spirits,' which is a rather amusing illustration how 
104 



NO 'GOOD* OR *BAD* GODS 

impossible it was by any native word to convey the idea 
of the spirit of evil. 

"When, in 1570, Father Rogel commenced his 
labours among the tribes near the Savannah River, he 
told them that the deity they adored was a demon who 
loved all evil things, and they must hate him ; whereas 
his auditors replied, that so far from this being the case, 
he whom he called a wicked being was the power that 
sent them all good things, and indignantly left the 
missionary to preach to the winds. 

"A passage often quoted in support of this mistaken 
view is one in Winslow's Good News from New England^ 
written in 1622. The author says that the Indians 
worship a good power called Kiehtan, and another 
* who, as farre as wee can conceive, is the Devill,' named 
Hobbamock, or Hobbamoqui. The former of these 
names is merely the word 'great,' in their dialect of 
Algonkin, with a final n^ and is probably an abbrevia- 
tion of Kittanitowit, the great Manitou, a vague term 
mentioned by Roger Williams and other early writers, 
manufactured probably by them and not the appella- 
tion of any personified deity. The latter, so far from 
corresponding to the power of evil, was, according to 
Winslow's own statement, the kindly god who cured dis- 
eases, aided them in the chase, and appeared to them in 
dreams as their protector. Therefore, with great justice, 
Dr. Jarvis has explained it to mean * the oke or tutelary 
deity which each Indian worships,' as the word itself 
signifies. 

" So in many instances it turns out that what has 
been reported to be the evil divinity of a nation, to 
whom they pray to the neglect of a better one, is in 
reality the highest power they recognize." 



105 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Creation-Myths 

The mythologies of the Red Man are infinitely more 
rich in creative and deluge myths than those of any 
other race in the two hemispheres. Tales which deal 
with the origin of man are exceedingly frequent, and 
exhibit every phase of the type of creative story. 
Although many of these are similar to European and 
Asiatic myths of the same class, others show great 
originality, and strikingly present to our minds the 
characteristics of American aboriginal thought. 

The creation-myths of the various Indian tribes 
differ as much from one another as do those of Europe 
and Asia. In some we find the great gods moulding 
the universe, in others we find them merely discovering 
it. Still others lead their people from subterranean 
depths to the upper earth. In many Indian myths we 
find the world produced by the All-Father sun, who 
thickens the clouds into water, which becomes the sea. 
In the Zuiii record of creation Awonawilona, the creator, 
fecundates the sea with his own flesh, and hatches it 
with his own heat. From this green scums are formed, 
which become the fourfold mother Earth and the all- 
covering father Sky, from whom sprang all creatures. 
" Then from the nethermost of the four caves of 
the world the seed of men and the creatures took 
form and grew ; even as with eggs in warm places 
worms quickly form and appear, and, growing, soon 
burst their shells and there emerge, as may happen, 
birds, tadpoles, or serpents : so man and all creatures 
grew manifoldly and multiplied in many kinds. Thus 
did the lowermost world-cave become overfilled with 
living things, full of unfinished creatures, crawling like 
reptiles over one another in black darkness, thickly 
crwoding together and treading one on another, one 
1 06 



ALGONQUIAN CREATION^MYTH 

spitting on another and doing other indecency, in such 
manner that the murmurings and lamentations became 
loud, and many amidst the growing confusion sought 
to escape, growing wiser and more manlike. Then 
Po-shai-an-K'ia, the foremost and teh wisest of men, 
arising from the nethermost sea, came among men and 
the living things, and pitying them, obtained egress from 
that first world-cave through such a dark and narrow 
path that some seeing somewhat, crowding after, could 
not follow him, so eager mightily did they strive one 
with another. Alone then did Po-shai-an-K'ia come 
from one cave to another into this world, then island- 
like, lying amidst the world-waters, vast, wet, and 
unstable. He sought and found the Sun-Father, and 
besought him to deliver the men and the creatures from 
that nethermost world." * 

Algonquian Creation'Myth 

In many other Indian mythologies we find the wind 
brooding over the primeval ocean in the form of a bird. 
In some creation-myths amphibious animals dive into 
the waters and bring up sufficient mud with them to 
form a beginning of the new earth. In a number of 
these tales no actual act of creation is recorded, but a 
reconstruction of matter only. The Algonquins relate 
that their great god Michabo, when hunting one day 
with wolves for dogs, was surprised to sec the ariimals 
enter a great lake and disappear. He followed them 
into the waters with the object of rescuing them, but 
as he did so the lake suddenly overflowed and sub- 
merged the entire earth. Michabo despatched a raven 
with directions to find a piece of earth which might 
serve as a nucleus for a new world, but the bird returned 
from its quest unsuccessful. Then the god sent an 

^ Gushing, i^th Report, Bureau of American Ethnology. 

107 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

otter on a like errand, but it too failed to bring back the 
needful terrestrial germ. At last a musk-rat was sent 
on the same mission, and it returned with sufficient 
earth to enable Michabo to recreate the solid land. 
The trees had become denuded of their branches, so 
the god discharged arrows at them, which provided 
them with new boughs. After this Michabo married 
the musk-rat, and from their union sprang the human 
race. 

The Muskhogean Creation'Story 

The Muskhogean Indians believe that in the begin- 
ning the primeval waste of waters alone was visible. 
Over the dreary expanse two pigeons or doves flew 
hither and thither, and in course of time observed a 
single blade of grass spring above the surface. The 
solid earth followed gradually, and the terrestrial 
sphere took its present shape, A great hill, Nunne 
Chaha, rose in the midst, and in the centre of this was 
the house of the deity Esaugetuh Emissee, the * Master 
of Breath.' He took the clay which surrounded his 
abode, and from it moulded the first men, and as the 
waters still covered the earth he was compelled to build 
a great wall upon which to dry the folk he had made. 
Gradually the soft mud became transformed into bone 
and flesh, and Esaugetuh was successful in directing 
the waters into their proper channels, reserving the dry 
land for the men he had created. 

This myth closely resembles the story in the Book 
of Genesis. The pigeons appear analogous to the 
brooding creative Spirit, and the manufacture of the 
men out of mud is also striking. So far is the resem- 
blance carried that we are almost forced to conclude that 
this is one of the instances in which Gospel conceptions 
have been engrafted on a native legend. 
io8 



BIRD. AND SERPENT^WORSHIP 

Siouan Cosmology 

The Mandan tribes of the Sioux possess a type of 
creation-myth which is common to several American 
peoples. They suppose that their nation lived in a 
subterranean village near a vast lake. Hard by the 
roots of a great grape-vine penetrated from the earth 
above, and, clambering up these, several of them got a 
sight of the upper world, which they found to be rich 
and well stocked with both animal and vegetable food. 
Those of them who had seen the new-found world 
above returned to their home bringing such glowing 
accounts of its wealth and pleasantness that the others 
resolved to forsake their dreary underground dwelling 
for the delights of the sunny sphere above. The 
entire population set out, and started to climb up the 
roots of the vine, but no more than half the tribe had 
ascended when the plant broke owing to the weight of 
a corpulent woman. The Mandans imagine that after 
death they will return to the underground world in which 
they originally dwelt, the worthy reaching the village 
by way of the lake, the bad having to abandon the 
passage by reason of the weight of their sins. 

The Minnetarees believed that their original ancestor 
emerged from the waters of a lake bearing in his hand 
an ear of corn, and the Mandans possessed a myth very 
similar to that of the Muskhogees concerning the origin 
of the world. 

Bird' and Serpent'Wofship and Symbols 

The serpent and the bird appear sometimes separately, 
sometimes in strange combination, in North American 
mythology. The bird is always incomprehensible to 
the savage. Its power of flight, its appearance in the 
heavens where dwell the gods, and its musical song 

109 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

combine to render it in his sight a being of mystery, 
possessing capabilities far above his own. From it he 
conceives the idea of the winged spirit or god, and he 
frequently regards it as a messenger from the bright 
regions of the sun or the sky deity. The flight and 
song of birds have always been carefully observed by 
primitive people as omens of grave import. These 
superstitions prevailed among the Red Race no less 
than among our own early ancestors. Many tribes 
imagined that birds were the visible spirits of the 
deceased. Thus the Powhatans of Virginia believed 
that the feathered race received the souls of their 
chiefs at death, and they were careful to do them no 
harm, accordingly. The Algonquins believed that 
birds caused the phenomenon of wind, that they created 
water-spouts, and that the clouds were the spreading 
and agitation of their wings. The Navaho thought 
that a great white swan sat at each of the four points 
of the compass and conjured up the blasts which came 
therefrom, while the Dakotas believed that in the west 
s the home of the Wakinyjan, ' the Flyers,' the breezes 
that send the storms. The thunder, too, is regarded 
by some Indian peoples as the flapping of the pinions 
of a great bird, whose tracks are seen in the lightning, 
"like the sparks which the buffalo scatters when he 
scours over a stony plain." Many of the tribes of 
the north-west coast hold the same belief, and ima- 
gine the lightning to be the flash of the thunder-bird's 
eye. 

Eagle-Worship 

The eagle appears to have been regarded with 
extreme veneration by the Red Man of the north. 
" Its feathers composed the war-flag of the Creeks, 
and its image carved in wood or its stufi^ed skin sur- 

IIO 



THE LIGHTNING SERPENT 

mounted their council lodges. None but an approved 
warrior dared wear it among the Cherokees, and the 
Dakotas allowed such an honour only to him who had 
first touched the corpse of the common foe." * The 
Natchez and other tribes esteemed it almost as a 
deity. The Zuni of New Mexico employed four of 
its feathers to represent the four winds when invoking 
the rain-god. Indeed, it was venerated by practically 
every tribe in North America. The owl, too, was 
employed as a symbol of wisdom, and sometimes, as 
by the Algonquins, was represented as the attendant of 
the Lord of the Dead. The Creek medicine-men carried 
a stuffed owl-skin as the badge of their fraternity and 
a symbol of their wisdom, and the Cherokees placed 
one above the ' medicine ' stone in their council lodge. 
The dove also appears to have been looked upon as 
sacred by the Hurons and Mandans. 

The Serpent and the Sun 

Some Indian tribes adopted the serpent as a symbol 
of time. They reckoned by 'suns,' and as the outline 
of the sun, a circle, corresponds to nothing in nature so 
much as a serpent with its tail in its mouth, devouring 
itself, so to speak, this may have been the origin of 
the symbol. Some writers think that the serpent 
symbolized the Indian idea of eternity, but it is un- 
likely that such a recondite conception would appeal 
to a primitive folk. 

The Lightning Serpent 

Among the Indians the serpent also typified the 
lightning. The rapidity and sinuosity of its motions, 
its quick spring and sharp recoil, prove the aptness of 
the illustration. The brilliancy of the serpent's basilisk 

^ Brinton, Myths of the New World. 

Ill 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

glance and the general intelligence of its habits would 
speedily give it a reputation for wisdom, and therefore 
as the possessor of orenda^ or magic power. These 
two conceptions would shortly become fused. The 
serpent as the type of the lightning, the symbol of the 
spear of the war-god, would lead to the idea that that 
deity also had power over the crops or summer vegeta- 
tion, for it is at the time of year when lightning is most 
prevalent that these come to fruition. Again, the 
serpent would through this association with the war- 
god attain a significance in the eye of warriors, who 
would regard it as powerful war-physic. Thus, the 
horn of the great Prince of Serpents, which was sup- 
posed to dwell in the Great Lakes, was thought to be 
the most potent war-charm obtainable, and priests or 
medicine-men professed to have in their possession 
fragments of this mighty talisman. 

The Algonquins believed that the lightning was an 
immense serpent vomited by the Manito, or creator, 
and said that he leaves serpentine twists and folds on 
the trees that he strikes. The Pawnees called the 
thunder "the hissing of the great snake." 

In snake-charming as a proof of magical proficiency, 
as typifying the lightning, which, as the serpent-spear 
of the war-god, brings victory in battle, and in its 
agricultural connexion, lies most of the secret of the 
potency of the serpent symbol. As the emblem of the 
fertilizing summer showers the lightning serpent was 
the god of fruitfulness ; but as the forerunner of floods 
and disastrous rains it was feared and dreaded. 

Serpent 'Worship 

Probably more ponderous nonsense has been written 
about the worship of reptiles (' ophiolatry,' as the 
mythologists of half a century ago termed it) than 

112 



THE RATTLESNAKE 

upon any other allied subject. But, this notwithstand- 
ing, there is no question that the serpent still holds 
a high place in the superstitious regard of many 
peoples, Asiatic and American. As we have already 
seen, it frequently represents the orb of day, and this 
is especially the case among the Zuni and other tribes 
of the southern portions of North America, where sun- 
worship is more usual than in the less genial regions. 
With the Red Man also it commonly typified water. 
The sinuous motion of the reptile sufficiently accounts 
for its adoption as the symbol for this element. And 
it would be no difficult feat of imagination for the 
savage to regard the serpent as a water-god, bearing in 
mind as he would the resemblance between its move- 
ment and the winding course of a river. Kennebec, 
the name of a stream in Maine, means * snake,' and 
Antietam, a creek in Maryland, has the same significance 
in the Iroquois dialect. Both Algonquins and Iroquois 
believed in the mighty serpent of the Great Lakes. 
The wrath of this deity was greatly to be feared, and 
it was thought that, unless duly placated, he vented 
his irascible temper upon the foolhardy adventurers 
who dared to approach his domain by raising a tempest 
or breaking the ice beneath their feet and dragging 
them down to his dismal fastnesses beneath. 

The Rattlesnake 

The rattlesnake was the serpent almost exclusively 
honoured by the Red Race. It is slow to attack, but 
venomous in the extreme, and possesses the power of 
the basilisk to attract within reach of its spring small 
birds and squirrels. "It has the same strange sus- 
ceptibility to the influence of rhythmic sounds as the 
vipers, in which lies the secret of snake-charming. 
Most of the Indian magicians were familiar with this 

113 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

singularity. They employed it with telling effect to 
put beyond question their intercourse with the unseen 
powers, and to vindicate the potency of their own 
guardian spirits who thus enabled them to handle with 
impunity the most venomous of reptiles. The well- 
known antipathy of these serpents to certain plants, for 
instance the hazel, which, bound around the ankles, is 
an alleged protection against their attacks, and perhaps 
some antidote to their poison used by the magicians, 
led to their frequent introduction in religious cere- 
monies. Such exhibitions must have made a pro- 
found impression on the spectators and redounded in 
a corresponding degree to the glory of the performer, 
* Who is a manito ? ' asks the mystic Meda Chant ot 
the Algonkins. * He,' is the reply, * he who walketh 
with a serpent, walking on the ground ; he is a 
manito.' The intimate alliance of this symbol with 
the mysteries of religion, the darkest riddles of the 
Unknown, is reflected in their language, and also in 
that of their neighbours, the Dakotas, in both of 
which the same words manito^ wakan^ which express the 
supernatural in its broadest sense, are also used as 
terms for this species of animals ! The pious founder 
of the Moravian Brotherhood, the Count of Zinzen- 
dorf, owed his life on one occasion to this deeply 
rooted superstition. He was visiting a missionary 
station among the Shawnees, in the Wyoming valley. 
Recent quarrels with the whites had unusually irritated 
this unruly folk, and they resolved to make him their 
first victim. After he had retired to his secluded hut, 
several of the braves crept upon him, and, cautiously 
lifting the corner of the lodge, peered in. The vener- 
able man was seated before a little fire, a volume of 
the Scriptures on his knees, lost in the perusal of the 
sacred words. While they gazed, a huge rattlesnake, 
114 



THE SACRED ORIGIN OF SMOKING 

unnoticed by him, trailed across his feet, and rolled 
itself into a coil in the comfortable warmth of the fire. 
Immediately the would-be murderers forsook their 
purpose and noiselessly retired, convinced that this 
was indeed a man of God." ^ 

The Sacred Origin of Smoking 

Smoking is, of course, originally an American custom, 
and with the Indians of North America possesses a 
sacred origin. Says an authority upon the barbarian 
use of tobacco : ^ 

"Of the sacred origin of tobacco the Indian has no 
doubt, although scarcely two tribes exactly agree in the 
details of the way in which the invaluable boon was 
conferred on man. In substance, however, the legend 
is the same with all. Ages ago, at the time when 
spirits considered the world yet good enough for their 
occasional residence, a very great and powerful spirit 
lay down by the side of his fire to sleep in the forest. 
While so lying, his arch-enemy came that way, and 
thought it would be a good chance for mischief; so, 
gently approaching the sleeper, he rolled him over 
toward the fire, till his head rested among the glowing 
embers, and his hair was set ablaze. The roaring of 
the fire in his ears roused the good spirit, and, leaping 
to his feet, he rushed in a fright through the forest, 
and as he did so the wind caught his singed hair as it 
flew off, and, carrying it away, sowed it broadcast over 
the earth, into which it sank and took root, and grew 
up tobacco. 

"If anything exceeds the savage's belief in tobacco, 
it is that which attaches to his pipe. In life it is his 
dearest companion, and in death is inseparable ; for 



1 Brinton, Myths of the New World, pp. 131-133. 
^ Schoolcraft, op. cit. 



"5 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

whatever else may be forgotten at his funeral obsequies, 
his pipe is laid in the grave with him to solace him on 
his journey to the ' happy hunting-ground.' * The first 
pipe ' is among the most sacred of their traditions ; as 
well it may be, when it is sincerely believed that no 
other than the Great Spirit himself was the original 
smoker. 

" Many years ago the Great Spirit called all his 
people together, and, standing on the precipice of the 
Red Pipe-stone Rock, he broke a piece from the wall, 
and, kneading it in his hands, made a huge pipe, which 
he smoked over them, and to the north, south, east, 
and west. He told them that this stone was red, that 
it was their flesh, that of it they might make their pipes 
of peace ; but it belonged equally to all ; and the war- 
club and the scalping-knife must not be raised on this 
ground. And he smoked his pipe and talked to them 
till the last whiff, and then his head disappeared in a 
cloud ; and immediately the whole surface of the rock 
for several miles was melted and glazed. Two great 
ovens were opened beneath, and two women (guardian 
spirits of the place) entered them in a blaze of fire ; 
and they are heard there yet, and answer to the in- 
vocation of the priests, or medicine-men, who consult 
them on their visits to this sacred place. 

" The * sacred place ' here mentioned is the site of 
the world-renowned ' Pipe-stone Quarry.' From this 
place has the North American Indian ever obtained 
material for his pipe, and from no other spot. Catlin 
asserts that in every tribe he has visited (numbering 
about forty, and extending over thousands of miles ot 
country) the pipes have all been made of this red 
pipe-stone. Clarke, the great American traveller, 
relates that in his intercourse with many tribes who as 
yet had had but little intercourse with the whites he 
ii6 



THE SACRED ORIGIN OF SMOKING 

learned that almost every adult had made the pilgrimage 
to the sacred rock and drawn from thence his pipe- 
stone. So peculiar is this ' quarry ' that Catlin has been 
at the pains to describe it very fully and graphically, 
and from his account the following is taken : 

" * Our approach to it was from the east, and the 
ascent, for the distance of fifty miles, over a continued 
succession of slopes and terraces, almost imperceptibly 
rising one above another, that seemed to lift us to a 
great height. There is not a tree or bush to be seen 
from the highest summit of the ridge, though the eye 
may range east and west, almost to a boundless extent, 
over a surface covered with a short grass, that is green 
at one's feet, and about him, but changing to blue in 
distance, like nothing but the blue and vastness of the 
ocean. 

" ' On the very top of this mound or ridge we found 
the far-famed quarry or fountain of the Red Pipe, 
which is truly an anomaly in nature. The principal 
and most striking feature of this place is a perpendicular 
wall of close-grained, compact quartz, of twenty-five 
and thirty feet in elevation, running nearly north and 
south, with its face to the west, exhibiting a front of 
nearly two miles in length, when it disappears at both 
ends, by running under the prairie, which becomes 
there a little more elevated, and probably covers it for 
many miles, both to the north and south. The de- 
pression of the brow of the ridge at this place has been 
caused by the wash of a little stream, produced by 
several springs at the top, a little back from the wall, 
which has gradually carried away the superincumbent 
earth, and having bared the wall for the distance of two 
miles, is now left to glide for some distance over a 
perfectly level surface of quartz rock ; and then to 
leap from the top of the wall into a deep basin below, 

I ' 117 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

and thence seek its course to the Missouri, forming the 
extreme source of a noted and powerful tributary, called 
the "Big Sioux." 

" * At the base of this wall there is a level prairie, of 
half a mile in width, running parallel to it, in any, and 
in all parts of which, the Indians procure the red stone 
for their pipes, by digging through the soil and several 
slaty layers of the red stone to the depth of four or five 
feet. From the very numerous marks of ancient and 
modern diggings or excavations, it would appear that 
this place has been for many centuries resorted to for 
the red stone ; and from the great number of graves 
and remains of ancient fortifications in the vicinity, it 
would seem, as well as from their actual traditions, that 
the Indian tribes have long held this place in high 
superstitious estimation ; and also that it has been the 
resort of different tribes, who have made their regular 
pilgrimages here to renew their pipes.' 

" As far as may be gathered from the various and 
slightly conflicting accounts of Indian smoking ob- 
servances, it would seem that to every tribe, or, if it be 
an extensive one, to every detachment of a tribe, belongs 
a potent instrument known as * medicine pipe-stem.' 
It is nothing more than a tobacco-pipe, splendidly 
adorned with savage trappings, yet it is regarded as 
a sacred thing to be used only on the most solemn 
occasions, or in the transaction of such important 
business as among us could only be concluded by the 
sanction of a Cabinet Council, and affixing the royal 
signature." 

The Gods of the Red Man 

Most of the North American stocks possessed a 
regular pantheon of deities. Of these, having regard 
to their numbers, it will be impossible to speak in any 
ii8 



MICHABO 

detail, and it will be sufficient if we confine ourselves 
to some account of the more outstanding figures. As 
in all mythologies, godhead is often attached to the 
conception of the bringer of culture, the sapient being 
who first instructs mankind in the arts of life, agri- 
culture, and religion. American mythologies possess 
many such hero-gods, and it is not always easy to say 
whether they belong to history or mythology. Of 
course, the circumstances surrounding the conception 
of some of these beings prove that they can be nothing 
else than mythological, but without doubt some ot 
them were originally mere mortal heroes. 

Michabo 

We discover one of the first class in Michabo, the 
Great Hare, the principal deity of the Algonquins. In 
the accounts of the older travellers we find him 
described as the ruler of the winds, the inventor of 
picture-writing, and even the creator and preserver of 
the world. Taking a grain of sand from the bed of the 
ocean, he made from it an island which he launched in 
the primeval waters. This island speedily grew to a 
great size ; indeed, so extensive did it become that a 
young wolf which managed to find a footing on it 
and attempted to cross it died of old age before he 
completed his journey. A great 'medicine' society, 
called Meda, was supposed to have been founded bv 
Michabo. Many were his inventions. Observing 
the spider spread its web, he devised the art of knit- 
ting nets to catch fish. He furnished the hunter with 
many signs and charms for use in the chase. In the 
autumn, ere he takes his winter sleep, he fills his great 
pipe and smokes, and the smoke which arises is seen 
in the clouds which fill the air with the haze of the 
Indian summer. 

119 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Some uncertainty prevailed among the various 
Algonquian tribes as to where Michabo resided, some 
of them believing that he dwelt on an island in Lake 
Superior, others on an iceberg in the Arctic Ocean, 
and still others in the firmament, but the prevalent idea 
seems to have been that his home was in the east, 
where the sun rises on the shores of the great river 
Ocean that surrounds the dry land. 

That a being possessing such qualities should be 
conceived of as taking the name and form of a timid 
animal like the hare is indeed curious, and there is 
little doubt that the original root from which the name 
Michabo has been formed does not signify ' hare.' In 
fact, the root wab^ which is the initial syllable of the 
Algonquian word for * hare,' means also ' white,' and 
from it are derived the words for ' east,' ' dawn,' * light,' 
and 'day.' Their names proceeding from the same 
root, the idea of the hare and the dawn became con- 
fused, and the more tangible object became the symbol 
of the god. Michabo was therefore the spirit of light, 
and, as the dawn, the bringer of winds. As lord of 
light he is also wielder of the lightning. He is in con- 
stant strife, nevertheless, with his father the West Wind, 
and in this combat we can see the diurnal struggle 
between east and west, light and darkness, common to 
so many mythologies. 

Modern Indian tales concerning Michabo make him 
a mere tricksy spirit, a malicious buffoon, but in these 
we can see his character in process of deterioration 
under the stress of modern conditions impinging upon 
Indian life. It is in the tales of the old travellers and 
missionaries that we find him in his true colours as a 
great culture-hero. Lord of the Day and bringer of 
light and civilization. 



120 



AHSONNUTLI 

The Battle of the Twiri'Gods 

Among the Iroquois we find a similar myth. It tells 
of two brothers, loskeha and Tawiscara, or the White 
One and the Dark One, twins, whose grandmother 
was the moon. When they grew up they quarrelled 
violently with one another, and finally came to blows, 
loskeha took as his weapon the horns of a stag, while 
Tawiscara seized a wild rose to defend himself. The 
latter proved but a puny weapon, and, sorely wounded, 
Tawiscara turned to fly. The drops of blood which 
fell from him became flint stones. loskeha later built 
for himself a lodge in the far east, and became the 
father of mankind and principal deity of the Iroquois, 
slaying the monsters which infested the earth, stock- 
ing the woods with game, teaching the Indians how 
to grow crops and make fires, and instructing them 
in many of the other arts of life. This myth appears 
to have been accepted later by the Mohawks and Tus- 
caroras. 

Awonawilona 

We have already alluded in the Zufii creation-myth 
to the native deity Awonawilona. This god stands 
out as one of the most perfect examples of deity in its 
constructive aspect to be found in the mythologies of 
America. He seems in some measure to be identified 
with the sun, and from the remote allusions regarding 
him and the manner in which he is spoken of as an 
architect of the universe we gather that he was not 
exactly in close touch with mankind. 

Ahsonnutli 

Closely resembling him was Ahsonnutli, the principal 
deity of the Navaho Indians of New Mexico, who was 

121 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

regarded as the creator of the heavens and earth. He 
was supposed to have placed twelve men at each of 
the cardinal points to uphold the heavens. He was 
believed to possess the qualities of both sexes, and is 
entitled the Turquoise Man-woman. 

Atius Tirawa 

Atius Tirawa was the great god of the Pawnees. 
He also was a creative deity, and ordered the courses 
of the sun, moon, and stars. As known to-day he is 
regarded as omnipotent and intangible ; but how far 
this conception of him has been coloured by missionary 
influence it would be difficult to say. We find, 
however, in other Indian mythologies which we know 
have not been sophisticated by Christian belief many 
references to deities who possess such attributes, and 
there is no reason why we should infer that Atius 
Tirawa is any other than a purely aboriginal con- 
ception. 

Esaugetuh Emissee 

The great life-giving god ot the Creeks and other 
Muskhogeans was Esaugetuh Emissee, whose name 
signifies, * Master of Breath.' The sound of the name 
represents the emission of breath from the mouth. He 
was the god of wind, and, like many another divinity 
in American mythology, his rule over that element was 
allied with his power over the breath of life — one of 
the forms of wind or air. Savage man regards the wind 
as the great source of breath and life. Indeed, in many 
tongues the words * wind,' * soul,' and ' breath ' have a 
common origin. We find a like conception in the 
Aztec wind-god Tezcatlipoca, who was looked upon as 
the primary source of existence.^ 

^ See the author's Myths of Mexico and Peru, in this series. 

t22 



THE COYOTE GOD 

The Coyote God 

Among the people of the far west, the Californlans 
and Chinooks, an outstanding deity is, strangely enough, 
the Coyote. But whereas among the Chinooks he 
was thought to be a benign being, the Maidu and 
other Californian tribes pictured him as mischievous, 
cunning, and destructive. Kodoyanpe, the Maidu 
creator, discovered the world along with Coyote, and 
with his aid rendered it habitable for mankind. The 
pair fashioned men out of small wooden images, as the 
gods of the Kiche of Central America are related to 
have done in the myth in the Popol Vuh. But the 
mannikins proved unsuitable to their purpose, and they 
turned them into animals. Kodoyanpe's intentions 
were beneficent, and as matters appeared to be going 
but ill, he concluded that Coyote was at the bottom of 
the mischief. In this he was correct, and on considera- 
tion he resolved to destroy Coyote. On the side of the 
disturber was a formidable array of monsters and other 
evil agencies. But Kodoyanpe received powerful assist- 
ance from a being called the Conqueror, who rid the 
universe of many monsters and wicked spir ts which 
might have proved unfriendly to the life of man, as 
yet unborn. The combat raged fiercely over a pro- 
tracted period, but at last the beneficent Kodoyanpe 
was defeated by the crafty Coyote. Kodoyanpe had 
buried many of the wooden mannikins whom he had 
at first created, and they now sprang from their places 
and became the Indian race. 

This is, of course, a day-and-night or light-and- 
darkness myth. Kodoyanpe is the sun, the spirit of 
day, who after a diurnal struggle with the forces of 
darkness flies toward the west for refuge. Coyote is 
the spirit of night, typified by an animal of nocturnal 

123 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

habits which slinks forth from its den as the shades of 
dusk fall on the land. We find a similar conception 
in Egyptian mythology, where Anubis, the jackal- 
headed, swallows his father Osiris, the brilliant god of 
day, as the night swallows up the sun. 

Another version of the Coyote myth current in Cali- 
fornia describes how in the beginning there was only 
the primeval waste of waters, upon which Kodoyanpe 
and Coyote dropped in a canoe. Coyote willed that 
the surf beneath them should become sand. 

" Coyote was coming. He came to Got'at. There 
he met a heavy surf. He was afraid that he might be 
drifted away, and went up to the spruce-trees. He 
stayed there a long time. Then he took some sand 
and threw it upon that surf : * This shall be a prairie 
and no surf. The future generations shall walk on 
this prairie ! ' Thus Clatsop became a prairie. The 
surf became a prairie." ^ 

But among other tribes as well as among the 
Chinooks Italapas, the Coyote, is a beneficent deity. 
Thus in the myths of the Shushwap and Kutenai 
Indians of British Columbia he figures as the creative 
agency, and in the folk-tales of the Ashochimi of Cali- 
fornia he appears after the deluge and plants in the 
earth the feathers of various birds, which according to 
their colour become the several Indian tribes. 

Blue Jay 

Another mischievous deity of the Chinooks and other 
western peoples is Blue Jay. He is a turbulent brag- 
gart, schemer, and mischief-maker. He is the very 
clown of gods, and invariably in trouble himself if 
he is not manufacturing it for others. He has the 
shape of a jay-bird, which was given him by the Super- 

^ Boas, Chinook Texts. 
124 



THUNDER-GODS 

natural People because he lost to them in an archery 
contest. They placed a curse upon him, telling him 
the note he used as a bird would gain an unenviable 
notoriety as a bad omen. Blue Jay has an elder 
brother, the Robin, who is continually upbraiding him 
for his mischievous conduct in sententious phraseology. 
The story of the many tricks and pranks played by 
Blue Jay, not only on the long-suffering members of 
his tribe, but also upon the denizens of the super- 
natural world, must have afforded intense amusement 
around many an Indian camp-fire. Even the prover- 
bial gravity of the Red Man could scarcely hold out 
against the comical adventures of this American Owl- 
glass. 

Thunder'Gods 

North America is rich in thunder-gods. Of these a 
typical example is Haokah, the god of the Sioux. The 
countenance of this divinity was divided into halves, 
one of which expressed grief and the other cheerful- 
ness — that is, on occasion he could either weep with 
the rain or smile with the sun. Heat affected him as 
cold, and cold was to him as heat. He beat the tattoo 
of the thunder on his great drum, using the wind as 
a drum-stick. In some phases he is reminiscent of 
Jupiter, for he hurls the lightning to earth in the shape 
of thunderbolts. He wears a pair of horns, perhaps 
to ' typify his connexion with the lightning, or else 
with the chase, for many American thunder-gods are 
mighty hunters. This double conception arises from 
their possession of the lightning-spear, or arrow, which 
also gives them in some cases the character of a war- 
god. Strangely enough, such gods of the chase often 
resembled in appearance the animals they hunted. 
For example, Tsui 'Kalu (Slanting Eyes), a hunter-god 

125 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of the Cherokee Indians, seems to resemble a deer. 
He is of giant proportions, and dwells In a great 
mountain of the Blue Ridge Range, In North-western 
Virginia. He appears to have possessed all the game 
In the district as his private property. A Cherokee 
thunder-god Is Asgaya GIgagel (Red Man). The 
facts that he Is described as being of a red colour, 
thus typifying the lightning, and that the Cherokees 
were originally a mountain people, leave little room 
for doubt that he Is a thunder-god, for it is around 
the mountain peaks that the heavy thunder-clouds 
gather, and the red lightning flashing from their depths 
looks like the moving limbs of the half-hidden deity. 
We also find occasionally invoked in the Cherokee 
religious formulas a pair of twin deities known as 
the * Little Men,' or 'Thunder-boys.' This reminds 
us that In Peru twins were always regarded as sacred 
to the lightning, since they were emblematic of the 
thunder-and-lightning twins, Apocatequll and PIguerao. 
All these thunder-gods are analogous to the Aztec 
Tlaloc, the KIche Hurakan, and the OtomI Mlxcoatl.^ 
A well-known Instance of the thunder- or hunter- 
god who possesses animal characteristics will occur 
to those who are familiar with the old English legend 
of Heme the Hunter, with his deer's head and 
antlers. 

The Dakota Indians worshipped a deity whom they 
addressed as Waukheon (Thunder-bird). This being 
was engaged In constant strife with the water-god, 
Unktahe, who was a cunning sorcerer, and a controller 
of dreams and witchcraft. Their conflict probably sym- 
bolizes the atmospheric changes which accompany the 
different seasons. 

^ See Myths of Mexico and Peru. 
126 



IDEA OF A FUTURE LIFE 

Idea of a Future Life 

The idea of a future life was very widely disseminated 
among the tribes of North America. The general con- 
ception of such an existence was that it was merely a 
shadowy extension of terrestrial life, in which the same 
round of hunting and kindred pursuits was engaged in. 
The Indian idea of eternal bliss seems to have been an 
existence in the Land of the Sun, to which, however, 
only those famed in war were usually admitted. 

That the Indians possessed a firm belief in a future 
state of existence Is proved by their statements to the 
early Moravian missionaries, to whom they said : " We 
Indians shall not for ever die. Even the grains of corn 
we put under the earth grow up and become living 
things." The old missionary adds : " They conceive 
that when the soul has been awhile with God It can, 
if it chooses, return to earth and be born again." 
This idea of rebirth, however, appears to have meant 
that the soul would return to the bones, that these 
would clothe themselves with flesh, and that the man 
would rejoin his tribe. By what process of reasoning 
they arrived at such a conclusion It would be diffi- 
cult to ascertain, but the almost universal practice 
which obtained among the Indians both of North and 
South America of preserving the bones of the deceased 
plainly indicates that they possessed some strong reli- 
gious reason for this belief Many tribes which dwelt 
east of the Mississippi once in every decade collected 
the bones of those who had died within that period, 
carefully cleaned them, and placed them in a tomb 
lined with beautiful flowers, over which they erected a 
mound of wood, stone, or earth. Nor, Indeed, were 
the ancient Egyptians more considerate of the remains 
of their fathers. 

127 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Hope of Resurrection 

American funerary ritual and practice throughout the 
northern sub-continent plainly indicates a strong and 
vivid belief in the resurrection of the soul after death. 
Among many tribes the practice prevailed of interring 
with the deceased such objects as he might be supposed 
to require in the other world. These included weapons 
of war and of the chase for men, and household imple- 
ments and feminine finery in the case of women. 

Among primitive peoples the belief is prevalent that 
inanimate objects possess doubles, or, as spiritualists 
would say, ' astral bodies,' or souls, and some Indian 
tribes supposed that unless such objects were broken 
or mutilated — that is to say, * killed ' — their doubles 
would not accompany the spirit of the deceased on its 
journey. 

Indian Burial Customs 

Many methods of disposing of the corpse were, and 
are, in use among the American Indians. The most com- 
mon of these were ordinary burial in the earth or under 
tumuli, burial in caves, tree-burial, raising the dead on 
platforms, and the disposal of cremated remains in urns. 

Embalming and mummification were practised to a 
certain extent by some of the extinct tribes of the east 
coast, and some of the north-west tribes, notably the 
Chinooks, buried their dead in canoes, which were raised 
on poles. The rites which accompanied burial, besides 
the placing of useful articles and food in the grave, 
generally consisted in a solemn dance, in which the 
bereaved relatives cut themselves and blackened their 
faces, after which they wailed night and morning in 
solitary places. It was generally regarded as unlucky 
to mention the name of the deceased, and, indeed, the 

128 



THE SUPERNATURAL PEOPLE 

bereaved family often adopted another name to avoid 
such a contingency. 

The Soul*s Journey- 
Most of the tribes appear to have believed that the 
soul had to undertake a long journey before it reached 
its destination. The belief of the Chinooks in this 
respect is perhaps a typical one. They imagine that 
after death the spirit of the deceased drinks at a large 
hole in the ground, after which it shrinks and passes on 
to the country of the ghosts, where it is fed with spirit 
food and drink. After this act of communion with the 
spirit-world it may not return. They also believe that 
every one is possessed of two spirits, a greater and a 
less. During illness the lesser soul is spirited away by 
the denizens of Ghost-land. The Navahos possess a 
similar belief, and say that the soul has none of the 
vital force which animates the body, nor any of the 
faculties of the mind, but a kind of third quality, or 
personality, like the ka of the ancient Egyptians, which 
may leave its owner and become lost, much to his 
danger and discomfort. The Hurons and Iroquois 
believe that after death the soul must cross a deep and 
swift stream, by a bridge formed by a single slender 
tree, upon which it has to combat the attacks of a fierce 
dog. The Athapascans imagine that the soul must be 
ferried over a great water in a stone canoe, and the 
Algonquins and Dakotas believe that departed spirits 
must cross a stream bridged by an enormous snake. 

Paradise and the Supernatural People 

The Red Man appears to have possessed two wholly 
different conceptions of supernatural life. We find 
in Indian myth allusions both to a ' Country of the 
Ghosts' and to a * Land of the Supernatural People.' 

129 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The first appears to be the destination of human beings 
after death, but the second is apparently the dwelling- 
place of a spiritual race some degrees higher than 
mankind. Both these remons are within the reach of 
mortals, and seem to be mere extensions of the terres- 
trial sphere. Their inhabitants eat, drink, hunt, and 
amuse themselves in the same manner as earthly folk, 
and are by no means invulnerable or immortal. The 
instinctive dread of the supernatural which primitive 
man possesses is well exemplified in the myths in which 
he is brought into contact with the denizens of Ghost- 
land or the Spirit-world. These myths were un- 
doubtedly framed for the same purpose as the old 
Welsh poem on the harrying of hell, or the story of the 
iourney of the twin brothers to Xibalba in the Central 
American Vopol Vuh. That is to say, the desire was felt 
for some assurance that man, on entering the spiritual 
sphere, would only be treading in the footsteps of 
heroic beings who had preceded him, who had van- 
quished the forces of death and hell and had stripped 
them of their terrors. 

The mythologies of the North American Indians 
possess no place of punishment, any more than they 
possess any deities who are frankly malevolent toward 
humanity. Should a place of torment be discernible 
in any Indian mythology at the present day it may un- 
hesitatingly be classed as the product of missionary 
sophistication. Father Brebeuf, an early French mis- 
sionary, could only find that the souls of suicides 
and those killed in war were supposed to dwell apart 
from the others. " But as to the souls of scoundrels," 
he adds, " so far from being shut out, they are welcome 
guests ; though for that matter, if it were not so their 
paradise would be a total desert, as ' Indian ' and 
* scoundrel' are one and the same." 
130 



INDIAN TIME AND FESTIVALS 

The Sacred Number Four 

Over the length and breadth oi the American con- 
tinent a peculiar sanctity is attached by the aborigines to 
the four points of the compass. This arises from the 
circumstance that from these quarters come the winds 
which carry the fertilizing rains. The Red Man, a 
dweller in vast undulating plains where landmarks 
are few, recognized the necessity of such guidance 
In his wanderings as could alone be received from a 
strict adherence to the position of the four cardinal 
points. These he began to regard with veneration as 
his personal safeguards, and recognized in them the 
dwelling-places of powerful beings, under whose care 
he was. Most of his festivals and celebrations had 
symbolical or direct allusions to the four points of the 
compass. The ceremony of smoking, without which 
no treaty could be commenced or ratified, was usually 
begun by the chief of the tribe exhaling tobacco-smoke 
toward the four quarters of the earth. Among some 
tribes other points were also recognized, as, for example, 
one in the sky and one in the earth. All these points 
had their symbolical colours, and were presided over by 
various animal or other divinities. Thus the Apaches 
took black for the east, white for the south, yellow for 
the west, and blue for the north, the Cherokees red, 
white, black, and blue for the same points, and the 
Navahos white, blue, yellow, and black, with white and 
black for the lower regions and blue for the upper or 
ethereal world. 

Indian Time and Festivals 

The North American tribes have various ways of 
computing time. Some of them rely merely upon the 
changes in season and the growth of crops for guidance 

131 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

as to when their annual festivals and seasonal celebra- 
tions should take place. Others fix their system of 
festivals on the changes of the moon and the habits of 
animals and birds. It was, however, upon the moon 
that most of these peoples depended for information 
regarding the passage of time. Most of them assigned 
twelve moons to the year, while others considered thir- 
teen a more correct number. The Kiowa reckoned the 
year to consist of twelve and a half moons, the other half 
being carried over to the year following. 

The Zuni of New Mexico allude to the year as a 
* passage of time,' and call the seasons the * steps of the 
year.' The first six months of the Zuni year possess 
names which have an agricultural or natural signi- 
ficance, while the last six have ritualistic names. 
Captain Jonathan Carver, who travelled among the 
Sioux at the end of the eighteenth century, says that 
some tribes among them reckoned their years by 
moons, and made them consist of twelve lunar months, 
observing when thirty moons had waned to add a 
supernumerary one, which they termed the ' lost moon.' 
They gave a name to each month as follows, the year 
beginning at the first new moon after the spring 
equinox : March, Worm Moon ; April, Moon of 
Plants ; May, Moon of Flowers ; June, Hot Moon ; 
July, Buck Moon ; August, Sturgeon Moon ; Sep- 
tember, Corn Moon ; October, Travelling Moon ; 
November, Beaver Moon ; December, Hunting Moon ; 
January, Cold Moon ; February, Snow Moon. These 
people had no division into weeks, but counted days 
by * sleeps,' half-days by pointing to the sun at noon, 
and quarter-days by the rising and setting of the sun, 
for all of which they possessed symbolic signs. Many 
tribes kept records of events by means of such signs, 
as has already been indicated. The eastern Sioux 
132 



INDIAN TIME AND FESTIVALS 

measure time by knotted leather thongs, similar to 
the quipos of the ancient Peruvians. Other tribes have 
even more primitive methods. The Hupa of Cali- 
fornia tell a person's age by examining his teeth. The 
Maidu divide the seasons into Rain Season, Leaf 
Season, Dry Season, and Falling-leaf Season. The 
Pima of Southern Arizona record events by means of 
notched sticks, which no one but the persons who 
mark them can understand. 

The chief reason for the computation of time among 
savage peoples is the correct observance of religious 
festivals. With the rude methods at their command 
they are not always able to hit upon the exact date 
on which these should occur. These festivals are 
often of a highly elaborate nature, and occupy many 
days in their celebration, the most minute attention 
being paid to the proper performance of the various 
rites connected with them. They consist for the most 
part of a preliminary fast, followed by symbolic dances 
or magical ceremonies, and concluding with a glutton- 
ous orgy. Most of these observances possess great 
similarity one to another, and visible differences may 
be accounted for by circumstances of environment or 
seasonal variations. 

When the white man first came into contact with 
the Algonquian race it was observed that they held 
regularly recurring festivals to celebrate the ripening 
of fruits and grain, and more irregular feasts to mark 
the return of wild-fowl and the hunting season in 
general. Dances were engaged in, and heroic songs 
chanted. Indeed, the entire observance appears to 
have been identical in its general features with the 
festival of to-day. 

One of the most remarkable of these celebrations is 
that of the Creeks called the * Busk,' a contraction 

K 133 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

for its native name, Pushkita. Commencing with a 
rigorous fast which lasts three days, the entire tribe 
assembles on the fourth day to watch the high-priest 
produce a new fire by means of friction. From this 
flame the members of the tribe are supplied, and feast- 
ing and dancing are then engaged in for three days. 
Four logs are arranged in the form of a cross pointing 
to the four quarters of the earth, and burnt as an offering 
to the four winds. 

The Buffalo Dance 

The Mandans, a Dakota tribe, each year celebrate 
as their principal festival the Buffalo Dance, a feast 
which marks the return of the buffalo-hunting season. 
Eight men wearing buffalo-skins on their backs, and 
painted black, red, or white, imitate the actions of 
buffaloes. Each of them holds a rattle in his right 
hand and a slender rod six feet long in his left, and 
carries a bunch of green willow boughs on his back. 
The ceremony is held at the season of the year when 
the willow is in full leaf. The dancers take up their 
positions at four different points of a canoe to repre- 
sent the four cardinal points of the compass. Two 
men dressed as grizzly bears stand beside the canoe, 
growling and threatening to spring upon any one 
who interferes with the ceremony. The bystanders 
throw them pieces of food, which are at once pounced 
upon by two other men, and carried off by them 
to the prairie. During the ceremony the old men 
of the tribe beat upon sacks, chanting prayers for 
the success of the buffalo-hunt. On the fourth day 
a man enters the camp in the guise of an evil 
spirit, and is driven from the vicinity with stones and 
curses. 

The elucidation of this ceremony may perhaps be as 
134 



MEDICINE-MEN 

follows : From some one of the four points of the 
compass the buffalo must come ; therefore all are re- 
quested to send goodly supplies. The men dressed as 
bears symbolize the wild beasts which might deflect 
the progress of the herds of buffalo toward the territory 
of the tribe, and therefore must be placated. The 
demon who visits the camp after the ceremony is, of 
course, famine. 

DanccFestivals of the Hopi 

The most highly developed North American festival 
system is that of the Hopi or Moqui of Arizona, the 
observances of which are almost of a theatrical nature. 
All the Pueblo Indians, of whom the Hopi are a division, 
possess similar festivals, which recur at various seasons 
or under the auspices of different totem clans or secret 
societies. Most of these * dances ' are arranged by the 
Katcina clan, and take place in dance-houses known 
as kivas. These ceremonies have their origin in the 
universal reverence shown to the serpent in America — 
a reverence based on the idea that the symbol of the 
serpent, tail in mouth, represented the round, full sun 
of August. In the summer * dances ' snake-charming 
feats are performed, but in the Katcina ceremony serpents 
are never employed. 

Devil-dances are by no means uncommon among 
the Indians. The purpose of these is to drive evil 
spirits from the vicinity of the tribe. 

MedicinC'Mcn 

The native American priesthood, whether known as 
medicine-men, shamans^ or wizards, were in most tribes 
a caste apart, exercising not only the priestly function, 
but those of physician and prophet as well. The 
name * medicine-men,' therefore, is scarcely a misnomer. 

135 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

They were skilled in the handling of occult forces such 
as hypnotism, and thus exercised unlimited sway over the 
rank and file of the tribe. But we shall first consider 
them in their religious aspect. In many of the Indian 
tribes the priesthood was a hereditary office ; in others 
it was obtained through natural fitness or revelation 
in dreams. With the Cherokees, for example, the 
seventh son of a family was usually marked out as 
a suitable person for the priesthood. As a rule the 
religious body did not share in the general life of the 
tribe, from which to a great degree it isolated itself. 
For example, Bartram in his Travels in the Carolinas 
describes the younger priests of the Creeks as being 
arrayed in white robes, and carrying on their heads 
or arms " a great owl-skin stuffed very ingeniously 
as an insignia of wisdom and divination. These 
bachelors are also distinguishable from the other 
people by their taciturnity, grave and solemn counten- 
ance, dignified step, and singing to themselves songs or 
hymns in a low, sweet voice as they stroll about the 
towns." To add to the feeling of awe which they 
inspired among the laymen of the tribe, the priests 
conversed with one another in a secret tongue. Thus 
the magical formulae of some of the Algonquin priests 
were not in the ordinary language, but in a dialect 
of their own invention. The Choctaws, Cherokees, 
and Zuni employed similar esoteric dialects, all of 
which are now known to be merely modifications of 
their several tribal languages, fortified with obsolete 
words, or else mere borrowings from the idioms of 
other tribes. 

Medicine'Men as Healers 

It was, however, as healers that the medicine-men were 
pre-eminent. The Indian assigns all illness or bodily 
136 



MEDICINE-MEN AS HEALERS 

discomfort to supernatural agency. He cannot com- 
prehend that indisposition may arise within his own 
system, but believes that it must necessarily proceed 
from some external source. Some supernatural being 
whom he has offended, the soul of an animal which he 
has slain, or perhaps a malevolent sorcerer, torments 
him. If the bodies of mankind were not afflicted in 
this mysterious manner their owners would endure for 
ever. When the Indian falls sick he betakes himself 
to a medicine-man, to whom he relates his symptoms, 
at the same time acquainting him with any circum- 
stances which he may suspect of having brought about 
his condition. If he has slain a deer and omitted the 
usual formula of placation afterward he suspects that 
the spirit of the beast is actively harming him. Should 
he have shot a bird and have subsequently observed 
any of the same species near his dwelling, he will 
almost invariably conclude that they were bent on a 
mission of vengeance and have by some means injured 
him. The medicine-man, in the first instance, may 
give his patient some simple native remedy. If this 
treatment does not avail he will arrange to go to the 
sufferer's lodge for the purpose of making a more 
thorough examination. Having located the seat of 
the pain, he will blow upon it several times, and 
then proceed to massage it vigorously, invoking the 
while the aid of the natural enemy of the spirit which 
he suspects is tormenting the sick man. Thus if a 
deer's spirit be suspected he will call upon the 
mountain lion or the Great Dog to drive it away, 
but if a bird of any of the smaller varieties he will 
invoke the Great Eagle who dwells in the zenith to 
slay or devour it. Upon the supposed approach of 
these potent beings he will become more excited, and, 
vigorously slapping the patient, will chant incantations 

137 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

in a loud and sonorous voice, which are supposed to 
hasten the advent of the friendly beings whom he has 
summoned. At last, producing by sleight of hand an 
image of the disturbing spirit worked in bone, he calls 
for a vessel of boiling water, into which he promptly 
plunges the supposed cause of his patient's illness. 
The bone figure is withdrawn from the boiling water 
after a space, and on being examined may be found to 
have one or more scores on its surface. Each of these 
shows that it has already slain its man, and the patient 
is assured that had the native j^sculapius not adopted 
severe measures the malign spirit would have added 
him to the number of its victims. 

Should these methods not result in a cure, others 
are resorted to. The patient is regaled with the 
choicest food and drink, while incantations are chanted 
and music performed to frighten away the malign 
influences. 

Professional Etiquette 

The priestly class is not given to levying exorbitant 
fees upon its patients. As a rule the Indian medicine- 
man strongly resents any allusion to a fee. Should 
the payment be of a perishable nature, such as food, 
he usually shares it with his relatives, brother-priests, 
or even his patients, but should it consist of something 
that may be retained, such as cloth, teeth necklaces, 
or skins, he will carefully hoard it to afford provision 
for his old age. The Indian practitioner is strongly 
of opinion that white doctors are of little service in 
the cure of native illnesses. White medicine, he says, 
is good only for white men, and Indian medicine for 
the red man ; in which conclusion he is probably 
justified. 

138 



JOURNEYS IN SPIRIT.LAND 

Joufneys in Spirit'land 

In many Indian myths we read how the shamans, 
singly or in companies, seek the Spirit-land, either to 
search for the souls of those who are ill, but not yet 
dead, or to seek advice from supernatural beings. These 
thaumaturgical practices were usually undertaken by 
three medicine-men acting in concert. Falling into a 
trance, in which their souls were supposed to become 
temporarily disunited from their bodies, they would 
follow the track of the sick man's spirit into the spirit- 
world. The order in which they travelled was de- 
termined by the relative strength of their guardian 
spirits, those with the strongest being first and last, 
and he who had the weakest being placed in the 
middle. If the sick man's track turned to the left 
they said he would die, but if to the right, he would 
recover. From the trail they could also divine 
whether any supernatural danger was near, and the 
foremost priest would utter a magic chant to avert such 
evils if they came from the front, while if the danger 
came from the rear the incantation was sung by the 
priest who came last. Generally their sojourn occupied 
one or two nights, and, having rescued the soul of the 
patient, they returned to place it in his body. 

Not only was the shaman endowed with the power 
of projecting his own 'astral body' into the Land of 
Spirits. By placing cedar-wood charms in the hands 
of persons who had not yet received a guardian spirit 
he could impart to them his clairvoyant gifts, enabling 
them to visit the Spirit-land and make any observations 
required by him. 

The souls of chiefs, instead of following the usual 
route, went directly to the sea-shore, where only the 
most gifted shamans could follow their trail. The sea 

139 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

was regarded as the highway to the supernatural 
regions. A sick man was in the greatest peril at high 
water, but when the tide was low the danger was less. 

The means adopted by the medicine-men to lure 
ghosts away from their pursuit of a soul was to create 
an ' astral ' deer. The ghosts would turn from hunting 
the man's soul to follow that of the beast. 

The Savage and Religion 

It cannot be said that the religious sense was ex- 
ceptionally strong in the mind of the North American 
Indian. But this was due principally to the stage of 
culture at which he stood, and in some cases still 
stands. In man in his savage or barbarian condition 
the sense of reverence as we conceive it is small, and 
its place is largely filled by fear and superstition. It 
is only at a later stage, when civilizing influences have 
to some extent banished the grosser terrors of animism 
and fetishism, that the gods reveal themselves in a 
more spiritual aspect. 



140 



CHAPTER III : ALGONQUIAN MYTHS 
AND LEGENDS 



T 



Glooskap and Malsum 

'HE Algonquin Indians have perhaps a more 
extensive mythology than the majority of Indian 
peoples, and as they have been known to civiliza- 
tion for several centuries their myths have the advantage 
of having been thoroughly examined. 

One of the most interesting figures in their pantheon 
is Glooskap, which means * The Liar ' ; but so far from 
an affront being intended to the deity by this appella- 
tion, it was bestowed as a compliment to his craftiness, 
cunning being regarded as one of the virtues by all 
savage peoples. 

Glooskap and his brother Malsum, the Wolf, were 
twins, and from this we may infer that they were the 
opposites of a dualistic system, Glooskap standing for 
what seems ' good ' to the savage, and Malsum for all 
that was ' bad.' ^ Their mother died at their birth, and 
out of her body Glooskap formed the sun and moon, 
animals, fishes, and the human race, while the malicious 
Malsum made mountains, valleys, serpents, and every 
manner of thing which he considered would incon- 
venience the race of men. 

Each of the brothers possessed a secret as to what 
would kill him, as do many other beings in myth and 
fairy story, notably Llew Llaw Gyffes in Welsh romance. 

Malsum asked Glooskap in what manner he could 
be killed, and the elder brother, to try his sincerity, 
replied that the only way in which his life could be 
taken was by the touch of an owl's feather — or, as 

^ This * goodness ' and ' badness,' however, is purely relative and 
of modern origin, such deities, as already explained, being figures in 
a light-and-darkness myth. 

141 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

some variants of the myth say, by that of a flowering 
rush. Malsum in his turn confided to Glooskap that 
he could only perish by a blow from a fern-root. The 
malicious Wolf, taking his bow, brought down an owl, 
and while Glooskap slept struck him with a feather 
plucked from its wing. Glooskap immediately expired, 
but to Malsum's chagrin came to life again. This tale 
is surprisingly reminiscent of the Scandinavian myth of 
Balder, who would only die if struck by a sprig of 
mistletoe by his brother Hodur. Like Balder, Glooskap 
is a sun-god, as is well proved by the circumstance that 
when he dies he does not fail to revive. 

But Malsum resolved to learn his brother's secret 
and to destroy him at the first opportunity. Glooskap 
had told him subsequently to his first attempt that only 
a pine-root could kill him, and with this Malsum struck 
him while he slept as before, but Glooskap, rising up 
and laughing, drove Malsum into the forest, and seated 
himself by a stream, where he murmured, as if musing 
to himself: "Only a flowering rush can kill me." Now 
he said this because he knew that Quah-beet, the Great 
Beaver, was hidden among the rushes on the bank of the 
stream and would hear every word he uttered. The 
Beaver went at once to Malsum and told him what 
he regarded as his brother's vital secret. The wicked 
Malsum was so glad that he promised to give the Beaver 
whatever he might ask for. But when the beast asked 
for wings like a pigeon Malsum burst into mocking 
laughter and cried : " Ho, you with the tail like a file, 
what need have you of wings .'' " At this the Beaver 
was wroth, and, going to Glooskap, made a clean breast 
of what he had done. Glooskap, now thoroughly infu- 
riated, dug up a fern-root, and, rushing into the recesses 
of the forest, sought out his treacherous brother and 
with a blow of the fatal plant struck him dead. 
142 



SCANDINAVIAN ANALOGIES 

Scandinavian Analogies 

But although Malsum was slain he subsequently 
appears in Algonquian myth as Lox, or Loki, the chiet 
of the wolves, a mischievous and restless spirit. In his 
account of the Algonquian mythology Charles Godfrey 
Leland appears to think that the entire system has been 
sophisticated by Norse mythology filtering through the 
Eskimo. Although the probabilities are against such 
a theory, there are many points in common between the 
two systems, as we shall see later, and among them few 
are more striking than the fact that the Scandinavian 
and Algonquian evil influences possess one and the same 
name. 

When Glooskap had completed the world he made 
man and the smaller supernatural beings, such as 
fairies and dwarfs. He formed man from the trunk of 
an ash-tree, and the elves from its bark. Like Odin, 
he trained two birds to bring him the news of the 
world, but their absences were so prolonged that he 
selected a black and a white wolf as his attendants. He 
waged a strenuous and exterminating warfare on the 
evil monsters which then infested the world, and on the 
sorcerers and witches who were harmful to man. He 
levelled the hills and restrained the forces of nature in 
his mighty struggles, in which he towered to giant 
stature, his head and shoulders rising high above the 
clouds. Yet in his dealings with men he was gentle and 
quietly humorous, not to say ingenuous. 

On one occasion he sought out a giant sorcerer 
named Win-pe, one of the most powerful of the evil 
influences then dwelling upon the earth. Win-pe shot 
upward till his head was above the tallest pine of the 
forest, but Glooskap, with a god-like laugh, grew till 
his head reached the stars, and tapped the wizard 

H3 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

gently with the butt of his bow, so that he fell dead at 
his feet. 

But although he exterminated many monsters and 
placed a check upon the advance of the forces of evil, 
Glooskap did not find that the race of men grew any 
better or wiser. In fact, the more he accomplished on 
their behalf the worse they became, until at last they 
reached such a pitch of evil conduct that the god resolved 
to quit the world altogether. But, with a feeling of 
consideration still for the beings he had created, he 
announced that within the next seven years he would 
grant to all and sundry any request they might make. 
A great many people were desirous of profiting by this 
offer, but it was with the utmost difficulty that they 
could discover where Glooskap was. Those who did 
find him and who chose injudiciously were severely 
punished, while those whose desires were reasonable 
were substantially rewarded. 

Glooskap*s Gifts 

Four Indians who won to Glooskap's abode found it 
a place of magical delights, a land fairer than the mind 
could conceive. Asked by the god what had brought 
them thither, one replied that his heart was evil and 
that anger had made him its slave, but that he wished to 
be meek and pious. The second, a poor man, desired 
to be rich, and the third, who was of low estate and 
despised by the folk of his tribe, wished to be uni- 
versally honoured and respected. The fourth was a 
vain man, conscious of his good looks, whose appearance 
was eloquent of conceit. Although he was tall, he had 
stuffed fur into his moccasins to make him appear still 
taller, and his wish was that he might become bigger 
than any man of his tribe and that he might live 
for ages. 
144 



GLOOSKAP AND THE BABY 

Glooskap drew four small boxes from his medicine- 
bag and gave one to each, desiring that they should 
not open them until they reached home. When the 
first three arrived at their respective lodges each 
opened his box, and found therein an unguent of great 
fragrance and richness, with which he rubbed himself. 
The wicked man became meek and patient, the poor 
man speedily grew wealthy, and the despised man 
became stately and respected. But the conceited man 
had stopped on his way home in a clearing in the 
woods, and, taking out his box, had anointed himself 
with the ointment it contained. His wish also was 
granted, but not exactly in the manner he expected, for 
he was changed into a pine-tree, the first of the species, 
and the tallest tree of the forest at that. 

Glooskap and the Baby 

Glooskap, having conquered the Kewawkqu', a race 
of giants and magicians, and the Medecolin, who were 
cunning sorcerers, and Pamola, a wicked spirit of the 
night, besides hosts of fiends, goblins, cannibals, and 
witches, felt himself great indeed, and boasted to a 
certain woman that there was nothing left for him 
to subdue. 

But the woman laughed and said : "Are you quite 
sure. Master ? There is still one who remains uncon- 
quered, and nothing can overcome him." 

In some surprise Glooskap inquired the name of 
this mighty individual. 

" He is called Wasis," replied the woman ; " but I 
strongly advise you to have no dealings with him." 

Wasis was only the baby, who sat on the floor 
sucking a piece of maple-sugar and crooning a little 
song to himself. Now Glooskap had never married 
and was quite ignorant of how children are managed, 

H5 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

but with perfect confidence he smiled to the baby and 
asked it to come to him. The baby smiled back to 
him, but never moved, whereupon Glooskap imitated 
the beautiful song of a certain bird. Wasis, however, 
paid no heed to him, but went on sucking his maple- 
sugar. Glooskap, unaccustomed to such treatment, 
lashed himself into a furious rage, and in terrible and 
threatening accents ordered Wasis to come crawling to 
him at once. But Wasis burst into direful howling, 
which quite drowned the god's thunderous accents, and 
for all the threatenings of the deity he would not 
budge. Glooskap, now thoroughly aroused, brought all 
his magical resources to his aid. He recited the most 
terrible spells, the most dreadful incantations. He 
sang the songs which raise the dead, and which sent 
the devil scurrying to the nethermost depths of the 
pit. But Wasis evidently seemed to think this was 
all some sort of a game, for he merely smiled wearily 
and looked a trifle bored. At last Glooskap in despair 
rushed from the hut, while Wasis, sitting on the floor, 
cried, " Goo, goo," and crowed triumphantly. And 
to this day the Indians say that when a baby cries 
" Goo " he remembers the time when he conquered 
the mighty Glooskap. 

Glooskap's Farewell 

At length the day on which Glooskap was to leave 
the earth arrived, and to celebrate the event he caused 
a great feast to be made on the shores of Lake Minas. 
It was attended by all the animals, and when it drew to 
a close Glooskap entered his great canoe and slowly 
drifted out of sight. When they could see him no 
longer they still heard his beautiful singing growing 
fainter and fainter in the distance, until at last it died 
away altogether. Then a strange thing happened. 
146 




Ciloo-kap brou^'ht aii hl^ magical re- 



uurcc; tu u 



;s aui "" 146 



HOW GLOOSKAP CAUGHT THE SUMMER 

The beasts, who up to this time had spoken but one 
language, could no longer understand each other, and 
in confusion fled away, never again to meet in friendly 
converse until Glooskap shall return and revive the 
halcyon days of the Golden Age. 

This tradition of Glooskap strikingly recalls that of 
the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl, who drifted from the 
shores of Mexico eastward toward the fabled land of 
Tlapallan, whence he had originally come. Glooskap, 
like the Mexican deity alluded to, is, as has already 
been indicated, a sun-god, or, more properly speaking, 
a son of the sun, who has come to earth on a mission 
of enlightenment and civilization, to render the world 
habitable for mankind and to sow the seeds of the arts, 
domestic and agricultural. Quetzalcoatl disappeared 
toward the east because it was the original home of 
his father, the sun, and not toward the west, which 
is merely the sun's resting-place for the night. But 
Glooskap drifted westward, as most sun-children do. 

How Glooskap Caught the Summer 

A very beautiful myth tells how Glooskap captured 
the Summer. The form in which it is preserved is a 
kind of poetry possessing something in the nature of 
metre, which until a few generations ago was recited 
by many Algonquian firesides. A long time ago 
Glooskap wandered very far north to the Ice-country, 
and, feeling tired and cold, sought shelter at a wigwam 
where dwelt a great giant — the giant Winter. Winter 
received the god hospitably, filled a pipe of tobacco 
for him, and entertained him with charming stories 
of the old time as he smoked. All the time Winter 
was casting his spell over Glooskap, for as he talked 
drowsily and monotonously he gave forth a freezing 
atmosphere, so that Glooskap first dozed and then fell 

H7 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

into a deep sleep — the heavy slumber of the winter 
season. For six whole months he slept ; then the 
spell of the frost arose from his brain a<id he awoke. 
He took his way homeward and southward, aud the 
farther south he fared the warmer it felt, ard the 
flowers began to spring up around his steps. 

At length he came to a vast, trackless forest, where, 
under primeval trees, many little people were dancing. 
The queen of these folk was Summer, a most ex- 
quisitely beautiful, if very tiny, creature. Glooskap 
caught the queen up in his great hand, and, cutting 
a long lasso from the hide of a moose, secured it 
round her tiny frame. Then he ran away, letting the 
cord trail loosely behind him. 

The Elves of Light 

The tiny people, who were the Elves of Light, came 
clamouring shrilly after him, pulling frantically at the 
lasso. But as Glooskap ran the cord ran out, and pull 
as they might they were left far behind. 

Northward he journeyed once more, and came to 
the wigwam of Winter. The giant again received him 
hospitably, and began to tell the old stories whose 
vague charm had exercised such a fascination upon the 
god. But Glooskap in his turn began to speak. 
Summer was lying in his bosom, and her strength and 
heat sent forth such powerful magic that at length 
Winter began to show signs of distress. The sweat 
poured profusely down his face, and gradually he 
commenced to melt, as did his dwelling. Then slowly 
nature awoke, the song of birds was heard, first faintly, 
then more clearly and joyously. The thin green 
shoots of the young grass appeared, and the dead 
leaves of last autumn were carried down to the river 
by the melting snow. Lastly the fairies came out, and 
148 



THE SNOW-LODGE 

Glooskap, kaving Summer with them, once more bent 
his steps souu v^ard. 

This [b obviously a nature-myth conceived by a people 
dwellitir, ;;i p. climate where the rigours of winter gave 
v-^aj for >» more or less brief space only to the blandish- 
mtoLS of summer. To them winter was a giant, and 
summer an elf of pigmy proportions. The stories 
told during the winter season are eloquent of the life 
led by people dwelling in a sub-arctic climate, where 
the traditional tale, the father of epic poetry, whiles 
away the long dark hours, while the winter tempest 
roars furiously without and the heaped-up snow renders 
the daily occupation of the hunter impossible. 

Glooskap*s Wigwam 

The Indians say that Glooskap lives far away, no 
one knows where, in a very great wigwam. His chief 
occupation is making arrows, and it would appear that 
each of these stands for a day. One side of his 
wigwam is covered with arrows, and when his lodge 
shall be filled with them the last great day will arrive. 
Then he will call upon his army of good spirits and go 
forth to attack Malsum in a wonderful canoe, which by 
magical means can be made to expand so as to hold an 
army or contract so that it may be carried in the palm 
of the hand. The war with his evil brother will be one 
of extermination, and not one single individual on either 
side will be left. But the good will go to Glooskap's 
beautiful abode, and all will be well at last. 

The Snow'Lodge 

Chill breezes had long forewarned the geese of the 
coming cold season, and the constant cry from above of 
" Honk, honk," told the Indians that the birds' migra- 
tion was in progress. 

L 149 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The buffalo-hunters of the Blackfeet, an Algonqulan 
tribe, were abroad with the object of procuring the 
thick robes and the rich meat which would keep them 
warm and provide good fare through the desolate 
winter moons. Sacred Otter had been lucky. Many- 
buffaloes had fallen to him, and he was busily occupied 
in skinning them. But while the braves plied the knife 
quickly and deftly they heeded not the dun, lowering 
clouds heavy with tempest hanging like a black cur- 
tain over the northern horizon. Suddenly the clouds 
swooped down from their place in the heavens like a 
flight of black eagles, and with a roar the blizzard was 
upon them. 

Sacred Otter and his son crouched beneath the 
carcass of a dead buffalo for shelter. But the air 
was frore as water in which the ice is floating, and he 
knew that they would quickly perish unless they could 
find some better protection from the bitter wind. So 
he made a small tepee^ or tent, out of the buffalo's hide, 
and both crawled inside. Against this crazy shelter the 
snow quickly gathered and drifted, so that soon the 
inmates of the tiny lodge sank into a comfortable 
drowse induced by the gentle warmth. As Sacred 
Otter slept he dreamed. Away in the distance he 
descried a great tepee^ crowned with a colour like the 
gold of sunlight, and painted with a cluster of stars 
symbolic of the North. The ruddy disc of the sun 
was pictured at the back, and to this was affixed the 
tail of the Sacred Buffalo. The skirts of the tepee 
were painted to represent ice, and on its side had been 
drawn four yellow legs with green claws, typical of 
the Thunder-bird. A buffalo in glaring red frowned 
above the door, and bunches of crow-feathers, with 
small bells attached, swung and tinkled in the breeze. 

Sacred Otter, surprised at the unusual nature of the 
150 




He descried a great tepee " 



150 



THE LORD OF COLD WEATHER 

paintings, stood before the tepee lost in admiration of its 
decorations, when he was startled to hear a voice say : 
" Who walks round my tepee ? Come in — come in ! " 

The Lord of Cold Weather 

Sacred Otter entered, and beheld a tall, white-haired 
man, clothed all in white, sitting at the back of the 
lodge, of which he was the sole occupant. Sacred 
Otter took a seat, but the owner of the tepee never 
looked his way, smoking on in stolid silence. Before 
him was an earthen altar, on which was laid juniper, as 
in the Sun ceremonial. His face was painted yellow, 
with a red line in the region of the mouth, and another 
across the eyes to the ears. Across his breast he wore 
a mink-skin, and round his waist small strips of otter- 
skin, to all of which bells were attached. For a long 
time he kept silence, but at length he laid down his 
black stone pipe and addressed Sacred Otter as follows : 
" I am Es-tonea-pesta, the Lord of Cold Weather, 
and this, my dwelling, is the Snow-tepee, or Yellow 
Paint Lodge. I control and send the driving snow 
and biting winds from the Northland. You are here 
because 1 have taken pity upon you, and on your son 
who was caught in the blizzard with you. Take this 
Snow-tepee with its symbols and medicines. Take 
also this mink-skin tobacco-pouch, this black stone 
pipe, and my supernatural power. You must make a 
tepee similar to this on your return to camp." 
, The Lord of Cold Weather then minutely explained 
I to Sacred Otter the symbols of which he must make use 
', in painting the lodge, and gave him the songs and 
ceremonial connected with it. At this juncture Sacred 
Otter awoke. He observed that the storm had abated 
somewhat, and as soon as it grew fair enough he and 
j his son crawled from their shelter and tramped home 
,1 ^51 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

waist-high through the soft snow. Sacred Otter spent 
the long, cold nights in making a model of the Snow- 
tepee and painting it as he had been directed in his 
dream. He also collected the 'medicines ' necessary for 
the ceremonial, and in the spring, when new lodges 
were made, he built and painted the Snow-tepee. 

The power of Sacred Otter waxed great because of 
his possession of the Snow-lodge which the Lord of 
Cold had vouchsafed to him in dream. Soon was it 
proved. Once more while hunting buffalo he and 
several companions were caught in a blizzard when 
many a weary mile from camp. They appealed to Sacred 
Otter to utilize the ' medicine ' of the Lord of Cold. 
Directing that several women and children who were 
with the party should be placed on sledges, and that 
the men should go in advance and break a passage 
through the snow for the horses, he took the mink 
tobacco-pouch and the black stone pipe he had received 
from the Cold-maker and commenced to smoke. He 
blew the smoke in the direction whence the storm 
came and prayed to the Lord of Cold to have pity on 
the people. Gradually the storm-clouds broke and 
cleared and on every side the blue sky was seen. 
The people hastened on, as they knew the blizzard was 
only being held back for a space. But their camp was 
at hand, and they soon reached it in safety. 

Never again, however, would Sacred Otter use his 
mystic power. For he dreaded that he might offend 
the Lord of Cold. And who could afford to do that ? 

The Star-Maiden 

A pretty legend of the Chippeways, an Algonquian 
tribe, tells how Algon, a hunter, won for his bride the 
daughter of a star. While walking over the prairies he 
discovered a circular pathway, worn as if by the tread 
152 



THE STAR^MAIDEN 

of many feet, though there were no foot-marks visible 
outside its bounds. The young hunter, who had never 
before encountered one of these * fairy rings,' was filled 
with surprise at the discovery, and hid himself in the 
long grass to see whether an explanation might not be 
forthcoming. He had not long to wait. In a little 
while he heard the sound of music, so faint and 
sweet that it surpassed anything he had ever dreamed 
of. The strains grew fuller and richer, and as they 
seemed to come from above he turned his eyes 
toward the sky. Far in the blue he could see a tiny 
white speck like a floating cloud. Nearer and nearer it 
came, and the astonished hunter saw that it was no 
cloud, but a dainty osier car, in which were seated 
twelve beautiful maidens. The music he had heard 
was the sound of their voices as they sang strange and 
magical songs. Descending into the charmed ring, 
they danced round and round with such exquisite grace 
and abandon that it was a sheer delight to watch them. 
But after the first moments of dazzled surprise Algon 
had eyes only for the youngest of the group, a slight, 
vivacious creature, so fragile and delicate that it seemed 
to the stalwart hunter that a breath would blow her 
away. 

He was, indeed, seized with a fierce passion for the 
dainty sprite, and he speedily decided to spring from 
the grass and carry her off. But the pretty creatures 
were too quick for him. The fairy of his choice skil- 
fully eluded his grasp and rushed to the car. The 
others followed, and in a moment they were soaring 
up in the air, singing a sweet, unearthly song. The 
disconsolate hunter returned to his lodge, but try as 
he might he could not get the thought of the Star- 
maiden out of his head, and next day, long before the 
hour of the fairies' arrival, he lay in the grass awaiting 

153 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
the sweet sounds that would herald their approach. At 
length the car appeared. The twelve ethereal beings 
danced as before. Again Algon made a desperate 
attempt to seize the youngest, and again he was unsuc- 
cessful. 

" Let us stay," said one of the Star-maidens. 
" Perhaps the mortal wishes to teach us his earthly 
dances." But the youngest sister would not hear of 
it, and they all rose out of sight in their osier basket. 

Algon's Strategy 

Poor Algon returned home more unhappy than ever. 
All night he lay awake dreaming of the pretty, elusive 
creature who had wound a chain of gossamer round his 
heart and brain, and early in the morning he repaired 
to the enchanted spot. Casting about for some means 
of gaining his end, he came upon the hollow trunk of 
a tree in which a number of mice gambolled. With 
the aid of the charms in his ' medicine '-bag he turned 
himself into one of these little animals, thinking the 
fair sisters would never pierce his disguise. 

That day when the osier car descended its occupants 
alighted and danced merrily as they were wont in the 
magic circle, till the youngest saw the hollow tree- 
trunk (which had not been there on the previous day) 
and turned to fly. Her sisters laughed at her fears, 
and tried to reassure her by overturning the tree-trunk. 
The mice scampered in all directions, and were quickly 
pursued by the Star-maidens, who killed them all 
except Algon. The latter regained his own shape just 
as the youngest fairy raised her hand to strike him. 
Clasping her in his arms, he bore her to his village, 
while her frightened sisters ascended to their Star- 
country. 

Arrived at his home, Algon married the maiden, and 
154 




AI 



gon carries the Captured Maiden home to his Lodge 154 



THE STAR-MAIDEN'S ESCAPE 

by his kindness and gentleness soon won her affection. 
However, her thoughts still dwelt on her own people, 
and though she indulged her sorrow only in secret, 
lest it should trouble her husband, she never ceased to 
lament her lost home. 

The Star'Maiden's Escape 

One day while she was out with her little son she 
made a basket of osiers, like the one in which she had 
first come to earth. Gathering together some flowers 
and gifts for the Star-people, she took the child with 
her into the basket, sang the magical songs she still 
remembered, and soon floated up to her own country, 
where she was welcomed by the king, her father. 

Algon's grief was bitter indeed when he found that 
his wife and child had left him. But he had no means 
of following them. Every day he would go to the 
magic circle on the prairie and give vent to his sorrow, 
but the years went past and there was no sign of his 
dear ones returning. 

Meanwhile the woman and her son had almost 
forgotten Algon and the earth-country. However, 
when the boy grew old enough to hear the story he 
wished to go and see his father. His mother con- 
sented, and arranged to go with him. While they 
were preparing to descend the Star-people said : 

" Bring Algon with you when you return, and ask 
him to bring some feature from every beast and bird 
he has killed in the chase." 

Algon, who had latterly spent almost all his time at 
the charmed circle, was overjoyed to see his wife and 
son come back to him, and willingly agreed to go with 
them to the Star-country. He worked very hard to 
obtain a specimen of all the rare and curious birds and 
beasts in his land, and when at last he had gathered 

155 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
the relics — a claw of one, a feather of another, and so 
on — he piled them in the osier car, climbed in himself 
with his wife and boy, and set off to the Star-country. 

The people there were delighted with the curious 
gifts Algon had brought them, and, being permitted by 
their king to take one apiece, they did so. Those 
who took a tail or a claw of any beast at once became 
the quadruped represented by the fragment, and those 
who took the wings of birds became birds themselves. 
Algon and his wife and son took the feathers of a 
white falcon and flew down to the prairies, where their 
descendants may still be seen. 

Cloud-Carrier and the Star-Folk 

A handsome youth once dwelt with his parents on the 
banks of Lake Huron. The old people were very proud 
of their boy, and intended that he should become a great 
warrior. When he grew old enough to prepare his 
* medicine '-bag he set off into the forest for that purpose. 
As he journeyed he grew weary, and lay down to sleep, 
and while he slept he heard a gentle voice whisper : 

"Cloud-carrier, I have come to fetch you. Follow me." 

The young man started to his feet. 

" I am dreaming. It is but an illusion," he muttered 
to himself, as he gazed at the owner of the soft voice, 
who was a damsel of such marvellous beauty that the 
sleepy eyes of Cloud-carrier were quite dazzled. 

"Follow me," she said again, and rose softly from 
the ground like thistledown. To his surprise the 
youth rose along with her, as lightly and as easily. 
Higher they went, and still higher, far above the 
tree-tops, and into the sky, till they passed at length 
through an opening in the spreading vault, and Cloud- 
carrier saw that he was in the country of the Star- 
people, and that his beautiful guide was no mortal 



THE STAR-COUNTRY 

maiden, but a supernatural being. So fascinated was 
he by her sweetness and gentleness that he followed 
her without question till they came to a large lodge. 
Entering it at the invitation of the Star-maiden, Cloud- 
carrier found it filled with weapons and ornaments of 
silver, worked in strange and grotesque designs. For 
a time he wandered through the lodge admiring and 
praising all he saw, his warrior-blood stirring at the 
sight of the rare weapons. Suddenly the lady cried : 

" Hush ! My brother approaches ! Let me hide 
you. Quick ! " 

The young man crouched in a corner, and the damsel 
threw a richly coloured scarf over him. Scarcely had 
she done so when a grave and dignified warrior stalked 
into the lodge. 

" Nemissa, my dear sister," he said, after a moment's 
pause, " have you not been forbidden to speak to the 
Earth-people ? Perhaps you imagine you have hidden 
the young man, but you have not." Then, turning 
from the blushing Nemissa to Cloud-carrier, he added, 
good-naturedly : 

" If you stay long there you will be very hungry. 
Come out and let us have a talk." 

The youth did as he was bid, and the brother of 
Nemissa gave him a pipe and a bow and arrows. He 
gave him also Nemissa for his wife, and for a long time 
they lived together very happily. 

The Star'Country 

Now the young man observed that his brother-in-law 
was in the habit of going away every day by himself, 
and feeling curious to know what his business might 
be, he asked one morning whether he might accom- 
pany him. 

The brother-in-law consented readily, and the two 

J 57 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

set off. Travelling in the Star-country was very plea- 
sant. The foliage was richer than that of the earth, 
the flowers more delicately coloured, the air softer and 
more fragrant, and the birds and beasts more graceful 
and harmless. As the day wore on to noon Cloud- 
carrier became very hungry. 

"When can we get something to eat .'' " he asked his 
brother-in-law. 

" Very soon," was the reassuring reply. " We are 
just going to make a repast." As he spoke they came 
to a large opening, through which they could see the 
lodges and lakes and forests of the earth. At one 
place some hunters were preparing for the chase. By 
the banks of a river some women were gathering reeds, 
and down in a village a number ot children were playing 
happily. 

" Do you see that boy down there in the centre of 
the group .'' " said the brother of Nemissa, and as he 
spoke he threw something at the child. The poor 
boy fell down instantly, and was carried, more dead 
than alive, to the nearest hut. 

The Sacrifice 

Cloud-carrier was much perplexed at the act of 
his supernatural relative. He saw the medicine-men 
gather round the child and chant prayers for his 
recovery. 

" It is the will of Manitou," said one priest, "that 
we offer a white dog as a sacrifice." 

So they procured a white dog, skinned and roasted 
it, and put it on a plate. It flew up in the air and 
provided a meal for the hungry Cloud-carrier and his 
companion. The child recovered and returned to his 
play. 

"Your medicine-men," said Nemissa's brother, "get 
158 



THE SNOW'MAN HUSBAND 
a great reputation for wisdom simply because they 
direct the people to me. You think they are very 
clever, but all they do is to advise you to sacrifice to 
me. It is 1 who recover the sick." 

Cloud-carrier found in this spot a new source of 
interest, but at length the delights of the celestial 
regions began to pall. He longed for the companion- 
ship of his own kin, for the old commonplace pastimes 
of the Earth-country. He became, in short, very 
homesick, and begged his wife's permission to return 
to earth. Very reluctantly she consented. 

"Remember," she said, " that I shall have the power 
to recall you when I please, for you will still be my 
husband. And above all do not marry an Earth- 
woman, or you will taste of my vengeance." 

The young man readily promised to respect her in- 
junctions. So he went to sleep, and awoke a little 
later to find himself lying on the grass close by his 
father's lodge. His parents greeted him joyfully. 
He had been absent, they told him, for more than a 
year, and they had not hoped to see him again. 

The remembrance of his sojourn among the Star- 
people faded gradually to a dim recollection. By and 
by, forgetting the wife he had left there, he married a 
young and handsome woman belonging to his own 
village. Four days after the wedding she died, but 
Cloud-carrier failed to draw a lesson from this un- 
fortunate occurrence. He married a third wife. But 
one day he was missing, and was never again heard of. 
His Star-wife had recalled him to the sky. 

The Snow'Man Husband 

In a northern village of the Algonquins dwelt a 
young girl so exquisitely beautiful that she attracted 
hosts of admirers. The fame of her beauty spread far 

159 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

and wide, and warriors and hunters thronged to her 
father's lodge in order to behold her. By universal 
consent she received the name of * Handsome.' One of 
the braves who was most assiduous in paying her his 
addresses was surnamed * Elegant,' because of the rich- 
ness of his costume and the nobility of his features. 
Desiring to know his fate, the young man confided 
the secret of his love for Handsome to another of his 
suitors, and proposed that they two should that day 
approach her and ask her hand in marriage. But the 
coquettish maiden dismissed the young braves disdain- 
fully, and, to add to the indignity of her refusal, re- 
peated it in public outside her father's lodge. Elegant, 
who was extremely sensitive, was so humiliated and 
mortified that he fell into ill-health. A deep melancholy 
settled on his mind. He refused all nourishment, and 
for hours he would sit with his eyes fixed on the ground 
in moody contemplation. A profound sense of dis- 
grace seized upon him, and notwithstanding the argu- 
ments of his relations and comrades he sank deeper 
into lethargy. Finally he took to his bed, and even 
when his family were preparing for the annual migra- 
tion customary with the tribe he refused to rise from it, 
although they removed the tent from above his head 
and packed it up for transport. 

The Lovcr*s Revenge 

After his family had gone Elegant appealed to his 
guardian spirit or totem to revenge him on the maiden 
who had thus cast him into despondency. Going from 
lodge to lodge, he collected all the rags that he could 
find, and, kneading snow over a framework of animals' 
bones, he moulded it into the shape of a man, which he 
attired in the tatters he had gathered, finally covering 
the whole with brilliant beads and gaudy feathers so 
1 60 



A STRANGE TRANSFORMATION 

that it presented a very imposing appearance. By 
magic art he animated this singular figure, placed a bow 
and arrows into its hands, and bestowed on it the name 
of Moowis, 

Together the pair set out for the new encampment 
of the tribe. The brilliant appearance of Moowis 
caused him to be received by all with the most marked 
distinction. The chieftain of the tribe begged him to 
enter his lodge, and entertained him as an honoured 
guest. But none was so struck by the bearing of the 
noble-looking stranger as Handsome. Her mother 
requested him to accept the hospitality of her lodge, 
which he duly graced with his presence, but being un- 
able to approach too closely to the hearth, on which a 
great fire was burning, he placed a boy between him 
and the blaze, in order that he should run no risk of 
melting. Soon the news that Moowis was to wed 
Handsome ran through the encampment, and the 
nuptials were celebrated. On the following day Moowis 
announced his intention of undertaking a long journey. 
Handsome pleaded for leave to accompany him, but he 
refused on the ground that the distance was too great 
and that the fatigues and dangers of the route would 
prove too much for her strength. Finally, however, 
she overcame his resistance, and the two set out. 

A Strange Transformation 

A rough and rugged road had to be traversed by the 
newly wedded pair. On every hand they encountered 
obstacles, and the unfortunate Handsome, whose feet 
were cut and bleeding, found the greatest difficulty in 
keeping up with her more active husband. At first it 
was bitterly cold, but at length the sun came out and 
shone in all his strength, so that the girl forgot her 
woes and began to sing gaily. But on the appearance 

i6i 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of the luminary a strange transformation had slowly 
overtaken her spouse. At first he attempted to keep 
in the shade, to avoid the golden beams that he knew 
meant death to him, but all to no purpose. The air 
became gradually warmer, and slowly he dissolved an.i 
fell to pieces, so that his frenzied wife now only beheld 
his garments, the bones that had composed his frame- 
work, and the gaudy plumes and beads with which he 
had been bedecked. Long she sought his real self, 
thinking that some trick had been played upon her ; but 
at length, exhausted with fatigue and sorrow, she cast 
herself on the ground, and with his name on her lips 
breathed her last. So was Elegant avenged. 

The Spirit'Bride 

A story is told of a young Algonquin brave whose 
bride died on the day fixed for their wedding. Before 
this sad event he had been the most courageous and 
high-spirited of warriors and the most skilful of hunters, 
but afterward his pride and his bravery seemed to 
desert him. In vain his friends urged him to seek the 
chase and begged him to take a greater interest in life. 
The more they pressed him the more melancholy he 
became, till at length he passed most of his time by the 
grave of his bride. 

He was roused from his state of apathy one day, 
however, by hearing some old men discussing the 
existence of a path to the Spirit-world, which they 
supposed lay to the south. A gleam of hope shone in 
the young brave's breast, and, worn with sorrow as he 
was, he armed himself and set off southward. For a 
long time he saw no appreciable change in his surround- 
ings — rivers, mountains, lakes, and forests similar to 
those of his own country environed him. But after a 
weary journey of many days he fancied he saw a 
162 




Moowis has melted in the buu 



162 



THE ISLAND OF THE BLESSED 

difFerence. The sky was more blue, the prairie more 
fertile, the scenery more gloriously beautiful. From 
the conversation he had overheard before he set out, 
the young brave judged that he was nearing the Spirit- 
world. Just as he emerged from a spreading forest he 
saw before him a little lodge set high on a hill. Thinking 
its occupants might be able to direct him to his destina- 
tion, he climbed to the lodge and accosted an aged man 
who stood in the doorway. 

" Can you tell me the way to the Spirit-world ? " he 
inquired. 

The Island of the Blessed 

" Yes," said the old man gravely, throwing aside his 
cloak of swan's skin. " Only a few days ago she whom 
you seek rested in my lodge. If you will leave your 
body here you may follow her. To reach the Island of 
the Blessed you must cross yonder gulf you see in the 
distance. But I warn you the crossing will be no easy 
matter. Do you still wish to go ^ " 

" Oh, yes, yes," cried the warrior eagerly, and as the 
words were uttered ht; felt himself grow suddenly 
lighter. The whole aspect, too, of the scene was changed. 
Everything looked brighter and more ethereal. He 
found himself in a moment walking through thickets 
which offered no resistance to his passage, and he knew 
that he was a spirit, travelling in the Spirit-world. 
When he reached the gulf which the old man had 
indicated he found to his delight a wonderful canoe 
ready on the shore. It was cut from a single white 
stone, and shone and sparkled in the sun like a jewel. 
The warrior lost no time in embarking, and as he put 
off from the shore he saw his pretty bride enter just 
such another canoe as his and imitate all his movements. 
Side by side they made for the Island of the Blessed, a 

163 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN !NDIANS 

charming woody islet set»;iii the middle ;f the water, 
like an emerald in silver. When they were about half- 
way across a sudden storm arose, and the huge waves 
threatened to engulf them. Many other people had 
embarked on the perilous waters by this time, soii'C of 
whom perished in the furious tempest. But the youth 
and maiden still battled on bravely, never losing sight 
of one another. Because they were good and innocent, 
the Master of Life had decreed that they should arrive 
safely at the fair island, and after a weary struggle they 
felt their canoes grate on the shore. 

Hand in hand the lovers walked among the beautiful 
sights and sounds that greeted their eyes and ears from 
every quarter. There was no trace of the recent storm. 
The sea was as smooth as glass and the sky as clear as 
crystal. The youth and his bride felt that they could 
wander on thus for ever. But at length a faint, sweet 
voice bade the former return to his home in the Earth- 
country. 

The Master of Life 

" You must finish your mortal course," it whispered 
softly. " You will become a great chief among your 
own people. Rule wisely and well, and when your 
earthly career is over you shall return to your bride, 
who will retain her youth and beauty for ever." 

The young man recognized the voice as that of the 
Master of Life, and sadly bade farewell to the woman. 
He was not without hope now, however, but looked 
forward to another and more lasting reunion. 

Returning to the old man's lodge, he regained his 
body, went home as the gentle voice on the island had 
commanded him, and became a father to his people for 
many years. By his just and kindly rule he won the 
hearts of all who knew him, and ensured for himself a 
164 



OTTER-HEART 

safe passage t the Island of the Blessed, where he 
arrived at k^ ro partake of everlasting happiness with 
his beautif '. bride. 

Otter-T-cart 

In the heart of a great forest lay a nameless little 
lake, and by its side dwelt two children. Wicked 
magicians had slain their parents while they were yet 
of tender years, and the little orphans were obliged to 
fend for themselves. The younger of the two, a boy, 
learned to shoot with bow and arrow, and he soon 
acquired such skill that he rarely returned from a 
hunting expedition without a specimen of his prowess 
in the shape of a bird or a hare, which his elder sister 
would dress and cook. 

When the boy grew older he naturally felt the need 
of some companionship other than that of his sister. 
During his long, solitary journeys in search of food he 
thought a good deal about the great world outside the 
barrier of the still, silent forest. He longed for the 
sound of human voices to replace the murmuring of 
the trees and the cries of the birds. 

"Are there no Indians but ourselves in the whole 
world ? " he would ask wistfully. 

" I do not know," his sister invariably replied. 
Busying herself cheerfully about her household tasks, 
she knew nothing of the strange thoughts that were 
stirring in the mind of her brother. 

But one day he returned from the chase in so 
discontented a mood that his unrest could no longer 
pass unnoticed. In response to solicitous inquiries from 
his sister, he said abruptly : 

" Make me ten pairs of moccasins. To-morrow I 
am going to travel into the great world." 

The girl was much disturbed by this communication, 

M 165 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

but like a good Indian maiden she did as he requested 
her and kept a respectful silence. 

Early on the following morning the youth, whose 
name was Otter-heart, set out on his quest. He soon 
came to a clearing in the forest, but to his disappoint- 
ment he found that the tree-stumps were old and 
rotten. 

" It is a long, longtime," he said mournfully, " since 
there were Indians here." 

In order that he might find his way back, he sus- 
pended a pair of moccasins from the branch of a tree, 
and continued his journey. Other clearings he reached 
in due time, each showing traces of a more recent 
occupation than the last, but still it seemed to him that 
a long time must have elapsed since the trees were cut 
down, so he hung up a pair of moccasins at each stage 
of his journey, and pursued his course in search of 
human beings. 

At last he saw before him an Indian village, which 
he approached with mingled feelings of pleasure and 
trepidation, natural enough when it is remembered that 
since his early childhood he had spoken to no one but 
his sister. 

The Ball-Playei-s 

On the outskirts of the village some youths of about 
his own age were engaged in a game of ball, in which 
they courteously invited the stranger to join. Very 
soon he had forgotten his natural shyness so far as 
to enter into the sport with whole-hearted zest and 
enjoyment. His new companions, for their part, were 
filled with astonishment at his skill and agility, and, 
wishing to do him honour, led him to the great lodge 
and introduced him to their chief. 

Now the chief had two daughters, one of whom was 
i66 



THE BALL-PLAYERS 

surnamed ' The Good ' and the other ' The Wicked.' 
To the guest the names sounded rather suggestive, 
and he was not a little embarrassed when the chief 
begged him to marry the maidens. 

" I will marry * The Good,' " he declared. 

But the chief would not agree to that. 

" You must marry both," he said firmly. 

Here was a dilemma for our hero, who had no wish 
to wed the cross, ugly sister. He tried hard to think 
of a way of escape. 

" I am going to visit So-and-so," he said at last, 
mentioning the name of one of his companions at ball, 
and he dressed himself carefully as though he were about 
to pay a ceremonious visit. 

Directly he was out of sight of the chief's lodge, 
however, he took to his heels and ran into the forest 
as hard as he could. Meanwhile the maidens sat 
waiting their intended bridegroom. When some hours 
passed without there being any signs of his coming 
they became alarmed, and set off to look for him. 

Toward nightfall the young Otter-heart relaxed his 
speed. " I am quite safe now," he thought. He did 
not know that the sisters had the resources of magic 
at their command. Suddenly he heard wild laughter 
behind him. Recognizing the shrill voice of The 
Wicked, he knew that he was discovered, and cast 
about for a refuge. The only likely place was in 
the branches of a dense fir-tree, and almost as soon 
as the thought entered his mind he was at the top. 
His satisfaction was short-lived. In a moment the 
laughter of the women broke out anew, and they 
commenced to hew down the tree. But Otter-heart 
himself was not without some acquaintance with magic 
art. Plucking a small fir-cone from the tree-top, he 
threw it into the air, jumped astride it, and rode down 

167 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

the wind for half a mile or more. The sisters, ab- 
sorbed in their task of cutting down the tree, did not 
notice that their bird was flown. When at last the 
great fir crashed to thei ground and the youth was 
nowhere to be seen the pursuers tore their hair in rage 
and disappointment. 

Otter'Heart's Stratagem 

Only on the following evening did they overtake 
Otter-heart again. This time he had entered a hollow 
cedar-tree, the hard wood of which he thought would 
defy their axes. But he had under-estimated the 
energy of the sisters. In a short time the tree showed 
the effect of their blows, and Otter-heart called on his 
guardian spirit to break one of the axes. 

His wish was promptly gratified, but the other sister 
continued her labours with increased energy. Otter- 
heart now wished that the other axe might break, and 
again his desire was fulfilled. The sisters were at a 
loss to know what to do. 

"We cannot take him by force," said one ; "we 
must take him by subtlety. Let each do her best, and 
the one who gets him can keep him." 

So they departed, and Otter-heart was free to emerge 
from his prison. He travelled another day's journey 
from the spot, and at last, reaching a place where he 
thought he would be safe, he laid down his blanket 
and went in search of food. Fortune favoured the 
hunter, and he shortly returned with a fine beaver. 
What was his amazement when he beheld a handsome 
lodge where he had left his blanket 1 

" It must be those women again," he muttered, 
preparing to fly. But the light shone so warmly from 
the lodge, and he was so tired and hungry, that he 
conquered his fears and entered. Within he found a 
1 68 




He rode down the wind " 



i68 



THE BEAVER-WOMAN 

tall, thin woman, pale and hungry-eyed, but rather 
pretty. Taking the beaver, she proceeded to cook it. 
As she did so Otter-heart noticed that she ate all the 
best parts herself, and when the meal was set out only 
the poorest pieces remained for him. This was so 
unlike an Indian housewife that he cast reproaches at 
her and accused her of greediness. As he spoke a 
curious change came over her. Her features grew 
longer and thinner. In a moment she had turned 
into a wolf and slunk into the forest. It was The 
Wicked, who had made herself pretty by means of 
magic, but could not conceal her voracious nature. 

Otter-heart was glad to have found her out. He 
journeyed on still farther, laid down his blanket, and 
went to look for game. This time several beavers 
rewarded his skill, and he carried them to the place 
where he had left his blanket. Another handsome 
lodge had been erected there 1 More than ever he 
wanted to run away, but once more his hunger and 
fatigue detained him. 

" Perhaps it is The Good," he said. " I shall go 
inside, and if she has laid my blanket near her couch 
I shall take it for a sign and she shall become my wife." 

The Beaver'\7oman 

He entered the lodge, and found a small, pretty 
woman busily engaged in household duties. Sure 
enough she had laid his blanket near her couch. When 
she had dressed and cooked the beavers she gave the 
finest morsels to her husband, who was thoroughly 
pleased with his wife. 

Hearing a sound in the night, Otter-heart awoke, 
and fancied he saw his wife chewing birch-bark. When 
he told her of the dream in the morning she did not 
laugh, but looked very serious. 

169 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
"Tell me," asked Otter-heart, "why did you exa- 
mnie the beavers so closely yesterday ? " 

" They were my relatives," she replied ; " my cousin, 
my aunt, and my great-uncle." 

Otter-heart was more than ever delighted, for the 
otters, his totem-kin, and the beavers had always been 
on very good terms. He promised never to kill any 
more beavers, but only deer and birds, and he and his 
wife. The Good, lived together very happily for a long 
time. 

The Fairy Wives 

Once upon a time there dwelt in the forest two 
braves, one of whom was called the Moose and the 
other the Marten. Moose was a great hunter, and 
never returned from the chase without a fine deer or 
buffalo, which he would give to his old grandmother to 
prepare for cooking. Marten, on the other hand, was 
an idler, and never hunted at all if he could obtain 
food by any other means. When Moose brought 
home a trophy of his skill in the hunt Marten would 
repair to his friend's lodge and beg for a portion of the 
meat. Being a good-natured fellow. Moose generally 
gave him what he asked for, to the indignation of the 
old grandmother, who declared that the lazy creature 
had much better learn to work for himself. 

"Do not encourage his idle habits," said she to her 
grandson. " If you stop giving him food he will go 
and hunt for himself." 

Moose agreed with the old woman, and having on 
his next expedition killed a bear, he told the grand- 
mother to hide it, so that Marten might know nothing 
of it. 

When the time came to cook the bear-meat, how- 
ever, the grandmother found that her kettle would not 
170 



MOOSE DEMANDS A WIFE 

hold water, and remembering that Marten had just got 
a nice new kettle, she went to borrow his. 

"I will clean it well before I return it," she thought. 
*' He will never know what I want it for." 

But Marten made a very good guess, so he laid a 
spell on the kettle before lending it, and afterward set 
out for Moose's lodge. Looking in, he beheld a great 
quantity of bear-meat. 

"I shall have a fine feast to-morrow," said he, laugh- 
ing, as he stole quietly away without being seen. 

On the following day the old grandmother of Moose 
took the borrowed kettle, cleaned it carefully, and 
carried it to its owner. She never dreamed that he 
would suspect anything. 

"Oh," said Marten, "what a fine kettleful of bear- 
meat you have brought me ! " 

"I have brought you nothing," the old woman began 
in astonishment, but a glance at her kettle showed her 
that it was full of steaming bear-meat. She was much 
confused, and knew that Marten had discovered her 
plot by magic art. 

Moose Demands a Wife 

Though Marten was by no means so brave or so 
industrious as Moose, he neyertheless had two very 
beautiful wives, while his companion had not even one. 
Moose thought this rather unfair, so he ventured to 
ask Marten for one of his wives. To this Marten 
would not agree, nor would either of the women 
consent to be handed over to Moose, so there was 
nothing for it but that the braves should fight for the 
wives, who, all unknown to their husband, were fairies. 
And fight they did, that day and the next and the next, 
till it grew to be a habit with them, and they fought as 
regularly as they slept. 

171 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

In the morning Moose would say: "Give me one 
of your wives." "Paddle your own canoe," Marten 
would retort, and the fight would begin. Next morn- 
ing Moose would say again : " Give me one of your 
wives." " Fish for your own minnows," the reply 
would come, and the quarrel would be continued with 
tomahawks for arguments. 

" Give me one of your wives," Moose persisted. 

" Skin your own rabbits ! " 

Meanwhile the wives of Marten had grown tired of 
the perpetual skirmishing. So they made up their minds 
to run away. Moose and Marten never missed them : 
they were too busy fighting. 

All day the fairy wives, whose name was Weasel, 
travelled as fast as they could, for they did not want to 
be caught. But when night came they lay down on 
the banks of a stream and watched the stars shining 
through the pine-branches. 

" If you were a Star-maiden," said one, " and wished 
to marry a star, which one would you choose ? " 

" I would marry that bright little red one," said the 
other. " I am sure he must be a merry little fellow." 

" I," said her companion, " should like to marry that 
big yellow one. I think he must be a great warrior." 
And so saying she fell asleep. 

The Red Star and the Yellow Star 

When they awoke in the morning the fairies found 
that their wishes were fulfilled. One was the wife of 
the great yellow star, and the other the wife of the 
little red one. 

This was the work of an Indian spirit, whose duty 
it is to punish unfaithful wives, and who had over- 
heard their remarks on the previous night. Knowing 
that the fulfilment of their wishes would be the best 
17a 



THE RETURN TO EARTH 

punishment, he transported them to the Star-country, 
where they were wedded to the stars of their choice. 
And punishment it was, for the Yellow Star was a fierce 
warrior who frightened his wife nearly out of her 
wits, and the Red Star was an irritable old man, and 
his wife was obliged to wait on him hand and foot. 
Before very long the fairies found their life in the 
Star-country exceedingly irksome, and they wished 
they had never quitted their home. 

Not far from their lodges was a large white stone, 
which their husbands had forbidden them to touch, 
but which their curiosity one day tempted them to 
remove. Far below they saw the Earth-country, and 
they became sadder and more home-sick than ever. 
The Star-husbands, whose magic powers told them 
that their wives had been disobedient, were not really 
cruel or unkind at heart, so they decided to let the 
fairies return to earth. 

" We do not want wives who will not obey," they 
said, " so you may go to your own country if you will 
be obedient once." 

The fairies joyfully promised to do whatever was 
required of them if they might return home. 

"Very well," the stars replied. "You must sleep 
to-night, and in the morning you will wake and hear 
the song of the chickadee, but do not open your eyes. 
Then you will hear the voice of the ground-squirrel ; 
still you must not rise. The red squirrel also you 
shall hear, but the success of our scheme depends on 
your remaining quiet. Only when you hear the striped 
squirrel you may get up." 

The Return to Earth 

The fairies went to their couch and slept, but their 
sleep was broken by impatience. In the morning the 

173 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

chickadee woke them with its song. The younger fairy 
eagerly started up, but the other drew her back. 

" Let us wait till we hear the striped squirrel," said 
she. 

When the red squirrel's note was heard the younger 
fairy could no longer curb her impatience. She sprang 
to her feet, dragging her companion with her. They 
had indeed reached the Earth-country, but in a way 
that helped them but little, for they found themselves 
in the topmost branches of the highest tree in the 
forest, with no prospect of getting down. In vain they 
called to the birds and animals to help them ; all the 
creatures were too busy to pay any attention to their 
plight. At last Lox, the wolverine, passed under the 
tree, and though he was the wickedest of the animals 
the Weasels cried to him for help. 

"If you will promise to come to my lodge," said 
Lox, "I will help you," 

" We will build lodges for you," cried the elder 
fairy, who had been thinking of a way of escape. 

"That is well," said Lox ; " I will take you down." 

While he was descending the tree with the younger 
of the fairies the elder one wound her magic hair- 
string in the branches, knotting it skilfully, so that the 
task of undoing it would be no light one. When she 
in her turn had been carried to the ground she begged 
Lox to return for her hair-string, which, she said, had 
become entangled among the branches. 

" Pray do not break it," she added, " for if you do I 
shall have no good fortune." 

The Escape from Lox 

Once more Lox ascended the tall pine, and strove 
with the knots which the cunning fairy had tied. 
Meanwhile the Weasels built him a wigwam. They 
17+ 




\\ 111 \(iu <.jri"\ u- ii\cr tiic ru ct : ' ^nc a^ked 



THE ESCAPE FROM LOX 

filled it with thorns and briers and all sorts of prickly 
things, and induced their friends the ants and hornets 
to make their nests inside. So long did Lox take to 
untie the knotted hair-string that when he came down 
it was quite dark. He was in a very bad temper, and 
pushed his way angrily into the new lodge. All the 
little creatures attacked him instantly, the ants bit him, 
the thorns pricked him, so that he cried out with anger 
and pain. 

The fairies ran away as fast as they could, and 
by and by found themselves on the brink of a wide 
river. The younger sat down and began to weep, 
thinking that Lox would certainly overtake them. 
But the elder was more resourceful. She saw the 
Crane, who was ferryman, standing close by, and sang 
a very sweet song in praise of his long legs and soft 
feathers. 

" Will you carry us over the river .'' " she asked 
at length. 

" Willingly," replied the Crane, who was very 
susceptible to flattery, and he ferried them across the 
river. 

They were just in time. Scarcely had they reached 
the opposite bank when Lox appeared on the scene, 
very angry and out of breath. 

" Ferry me across. Old Crooked-legs," said he, and 
added other still more uncomplimentary remarks. 

The Crane was furious, but he said nothing, and 
bore Lox out on the river. 

" I see you," cried Lox to the trembling fairies. 
" I shall have you soon ! " 

"You shall not, wicked one," said the Crane, and 
he threw Lox into the deepest part of the stream. 

The fairies turned their faces homeward and saw 
him no more. 

lis 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Malicious Mother-iri'Law 

An Ojibway or Chippeway legend tells of a 
hunter who was greatly devoted to his wife. As a 
proof of his affection he presented her with the most 
delicate morsels from the game he killed. This aroused 
the jealousy and envy of his mother, who lived with 
them, and who imagined that these little attentions 
should be paid to her, and not to the younger woman. 
The latter, quite unaware of her mother-in-law's atti- 
tude, cooked and ate the gifts her husband brought 
her. Being a woman of a gentle and agreeable dis- 
position, who spent most of her time attending to her 
household duties and watching over her child and a 
little orphan boy whom she had adopted, she tried to 
make friends with the old dame, and was grieved and 
disappointed when the latter would not respond to her 
advances. 

The mother-in-law nursed her grievance until it 
seemed of gigantic proportions. Her heart grew 
blacker and blacker against her son's wife, and at last 
she determined to kill her. For a time she could think 
of no way to put her evil intent into action, but finally 
she hit upon a plan. 

One day she disappeared from the lodge, and returned 
after a space looking very happy and good-tempered. 
The younger woman was surprised and delighted at 
the alteration. This was an agreeably different person 
from the nagging, cross-grained old creature who had 
made her life a burden ! The old woman repeatedly 
absented herself from her home after this, returning 
on each occasion with a pleased and contented smile 
on her wrinkled face. By and by the wife allowed her 
curiosity to get the better of her, and she asked the 
meaning of her mother-in-law's happiness. 
176 



THE DEATH'SWING 

The Death-Swing 

" If you must know," replied the old woman, " I 
have made a beautiful swing down by the lake, and 
always when I swing on it I feel so well and happy that 
I cannot help smiling." 

The young woman begged that she too might be 
allowed to enjoy the swing. 

" To-morrow you may accompany me," was the 
reply. But next day the old woman had some excuse, 
and so on, day after day, till the curiosity of her son's 
wife was very keen. Thus when the elder woman said 
one day, *' Come with me, and 1 will take you to the 
swing. Tie up your baby and leave him in charge of 
the orphan," the other complied eagerly, and was ready 
in a moment to go with her mother-in-law. 

When they reached the shores of the lake they found 
a lithe sapling which hung over the water. 

" Here is my swing," said the old creature, and she 
cast aside her robe, fastened a thong to her waist and 
to the sapling, and swung far over the lake. She 
laughed so much and seemed to find the pastime so 
pleasant that her daughter-in-law was more anxious 
than ever to try it for herself. 

" Let me tie the thong for you," said the old woman, 
when she had tired of swinging. Her companion threw 
off her robe and allowed the leather thong to be fastened 
round her waist. When all was ready she was com- 
manded to swing. Out over the water she went 
fearlessly, but as she did so the jealous old mother-in- 
law cut the thong, and she fell into the lake. 

The old creature, exulting over the success of her 
cruel scheme, dressed herself in her victim's clothes 
and returned to the lodge. But the baby cried and 
refused to be fed by her, and the orphan boy cried too, 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

for the young woman had been almost a mother to him 
since his parents had died. 

"Where is the baby's mother?" he asked, when 
some hours had passed and she did not return. 

" At the swing," replied the old woman roughly. 

When the hunter returned from the chase he brouoht 
with him, as usual, some morsels of game for his wife, 
and, never dreaming that the woman bending over the 
child might not be she, he gave them to her. The lodge 
was dark, for it was evening, and his mother wore the 
clothes of his wife and imitated her voice and movements, 
so that his error was not surprising. Greedily she seized 
the tender pieces of meat, and cooked and ate them. 

The heart of the little orphan was so sore that he 
could not sleep. In the middle of the night he rose 
and went to look for his foster-mother. Down by the 
lake he found the swing with the thong cut, and he 
knew that she had been killed. Crying bitterly, he 
crept home to his couch, and in the morning told the 
hunter all that he had seen. 

"Say nothing," said the chief, "but come with me 
to hunt, and in the evening return to the shores of the 
lake with the child, while I pray to Manitou that he 
may send me back my wife." 

The Silver Girdle 

So they went off in search of game without a word 
to the old woman ; nor did they stay to eat, but set 
out directly it was light. At sunset they made their 
way to the lake-side, the little orphan carrying the 
baby. Here the hunter blackened his face and prayed 
earnestly that the Great Manitou might send back his 
wife. While he prayed the orphan amused the child 
by singing quaint little songs ; but at last the baby 
grew weary and hungry and began to cry. 
178 




" He poised his spear and struck the girdle " 178 



THE SILVER GIRDLE 

Far in the lake his mother heard the sound, and 
skimmed over the water in the shape of a great white 
gulL When she touched the shore she became a 
woman again, and hugged the child to her heart's 
content. The orphan boy besought her to return to 
them. 

"Alas ! " said she, " I have fallen into the hands of 
the Water Manitou, and he has wound his silver tail 
about me, so that I never can escape." 

As she spoke the little lad saw that her waist was 
encircled by a band of gleaming silver, one end of 
which was in the water. At length she declared that 
it was time for her to return to the home of the 
water-god, and after having exacted a promise from 
the boy that he would bring her baby there every day, 
she became a gull again and flew away. The hunter 
was informed of all that had passed, and straightway 
determined that he would be present on the following 
evening. All next day he fasted and besought the 
good-will of Manitou, and when the night began to 
fall he hid himself on the shore till his wife appeared. 
Hastily emerging from his concealment, the hunter 
poised his spear and struck the girdle with all his 
force. The silver band parted, and the woman was 
free to return home with her husband. 

Overjoyed at her restoration, he led her gently to 
the lodge, where his mother was sitting by the fire. 
At the sight of her daughter-in-law, whom she thought 
she had drowned in the lake, she started up in such 
fear and astonishment that she tripped, overbalanced, 
and fell into the fire. Before they could pull her out 
the flames had risen to the smoke-hole, and when the 
fire died down no woman was there, but a great black 
bird, which rose slowly from the smoking embers, flew 
out of the lodge, and was never seen again. 

179 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

As for the others, they lived long and happily, un- 
disturbed by the jealousy and hatred of the malicious 
crone. 

The Maize Spirit 

The Chippeways tell a charming story concerning the 
origin of the zea maize, which runs as follows : 

A lad of fourteen or fifteen dwelt with his parents, 
brothers, and sisters in a beautifully situated little 
lodge. The family, though poor, were very happy 
and contented. The father was a hunter who was not 
lacking in courage and skill, but there were times when 
he could scarcely supply the wants of his family, and 
as none of his children was old enough to help him 
things went hardly with them then. The lad was of a 
cheerful and contented disposition, like his father, and 
his great desire was to benefit his people. The time 
had come for him to observe the initial fast prescribed 
for all Indian boys of his age, and his mother made him 
a little fasting-lodge in a remote spot where he might 
not suffer interruption during his ordeal. 

Thither the boy repaired, meditating on the good- 
ness of the Great Spirit, who had made all things 
beautiful in the fields and forests for the enjoyment of 
man. The desire to help his fellows was strong upon 
him, and he prayed that some means to that end migh: 
be revealed to him in a dream. 

On the third day of his fast he was too weak to 
ramble through the forest, and as he lay in a state 
between sleeping and waking there came toward him 
a beautiful youth, richly dressed in green robes, and 
wearing on his head wonderful green plumes. 

" The Great Spirit has heard your prayers," said the 
youth, and his voice was like the sound of the wind 
sighing through the grass. "Hearken to me and you 
i8o 



THE STRUGGLE 

shall have your desire fulfilled. Arise and wrestle 
with me." 

The Struggle 

The lad obeyed. Though his limbs were weak his 
brain was clear and active, and he felt he could not 
but obey the soft-voiced stranger. After a long, silent 
struggle the latter said : 

" That will do for to-day. To-morrow I shall come 
again." 

The lad lay back exhausted, but on the morrow the 
green-clad stranger reappeared, and the conflict was 
renewed. As the struggle went on the youth felt 
himself grow stronger and more confident, and before 
leaving him for the second time the supernatural visitor 
offered him some words of praise and encourage- 
ment. 

On the third day the youth, pale and feeble, was 
again summoned to the contest. As he grasped his 
opponent the very contact seemed to give him new 
strength, and he fought more and more bravely, till his 
lithe companion was forced to cry out that he had had 
enough. Ere he took his departure the visitor told 
the lad that the following day would put an end to his 
trials. 

" To-morrow," said he, " your father will bring you 
tood, and that will help you. In the evening I shall 
come and wrestle with you. I know that you are 
destined to succeed and to obtain your heart's desire. 
When you have thrown me, strip off my garments and 
plumes, bury me where I fall, and keep the earth above 
me moist and clean. Once a month let my remains be 
covered with fresh earth, and you shall see me again, 
clothed in my green garments and plumes." So saying, 
he vanished. 

N (8l 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Final Contest 

Next day the lad's father brought him food ; the 
youth, however, begged that it might be set aside till 
evening. Once again the stranger appeared. Though 
he had eaten nothing, the hero's strength, as before, 
seemed to increase as he struggled, and at length he 
threw his opponent. Then he stripped off his garments 
and plumes, and buried him in the earth, not without 
sorrow in his heart for the slaying of such a beautiful 
youth. 

His task done, he returned to his parents, and soon 
recovered his full strength. But he never forgot the 
grave of his friend. Not a weed was allowed to grow 
on it, and finally he was rewarded by seeing the green 
plumes rise above the earth and broaden out into 
graceful leaves. When the autumn came he requested 
his father to accompany him to the place. By this 
time the plant was at its full height, tall and beautiful, 
with waving leaves and golden tassels. The elder man 
was filled with surprise and admiration. 

" It is my friend," murmured the youth, " the friend 
of my dreams." 

" It is Mon-da-min," said his father, " the spirit's 
grain, the gift of the Great Spirit." 

And in this manner was maize given to the Indians. 

The Seven Brothers 

The Blackfeet have a curious legend in explanation 
of the constellation known as the Plough or Great 
Bear. Once there dwelt together nine children, seven 
boys and two girls. While the six older brothers were 
away on the war-path the elder daughter, whose name 
was Bearskin-woman, married a grizzly bear. Her 
father was so enraged that he collected his friends and 
182 



THE CHASE 

ordered them to surround the grizzly's cave and slay 
him. When the girl heard that her spouse had been 
killed she took a piece of his skin and wore it as an 
amulet. Through the agency of her husband's super- 
natural power, one dark night she was changed into a 
grizzly bear, and rushed through the camp, killing and 
rending the people, even her own father and mother, 
sparing only her youngest brother and her sister, Okinai 
and Sinopa. She then took her former shape, and 
returned to the lodge occupied by the two orphans, who 
were greatly terrified when they heard her muttering 
to herself, planning their deaths. 

Sinopa had gone to the river one day, when she met 
her six brothers returning from the war-path. She 
told them what had happened in their absence. They 
reassured her, and bade her gather a large number of 
prickly pears. These she was to strew in front of the 
lodge, leaving only a small path uncovered by them. 
In the dead of night Okinai and Sinopa crept out of the 
lodge, picking their way down the little path that was 
free from the prickly pears, and meeting their six 
brothers, who were awaiting them. The Bearskin- 
woman heard them leaving the lodge, and rushed out 
into the open, only to tread on the prickly pears. 
Roaring with pain and anger, she immediately assumed 
her bear shape and rushed furiously at her brothers. But 
Okinai rose to the occasion. He shot an arrow into 
the air, and so far as it flew the brothers and sister 
found themselves just that distance in front of the 
savage animal behind them. 

The Chase 

The beast gained on them, however ; but Okinai 
waved a magic feather, and thick underbrush rose 
in its path. Again Bearskin-woman made headway. 

183 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Okinai caused a lake to spring up before her. Yet 
again she neared the brothers and sister, and this time 
Okinai raised a great tree, into which the refugees 
climbed. The Grizzly-woman, however, succeeded in 
dragging four of the brothers from the tree, when 
Okinai shot an arrow into the air. Immediately his 
little sister sailed into the sky. Six times more he shot 
an arrow, and each time a brother went up, Okinai 
himself following them as the last arrow soared into the 
blue. Thus the orphans became stars ; and one can 
see that they took the same position in the sky as they 
had occupied in the tree, for the small star at one side 
of the bunch is Sinopa, while the four who huddle 
together at the bottom are those who had been dragged 
from the branches by Bearskin-woman. 

The Beaver Medicine Legend ^ 

Two brothers dwelt together in the old time. The 
elder, who was named Nopatsis, was married to a 
woman who was wholly evil, and who hated his younger 
brother, Akaiyan. Daily the wife pestered her husband 
to be rid of Akaiyan, but he would not agree to part 
with his only brother, for they had been together 
through long years of privation — indeed, since their 
parents had left them together as little helpless orphans 
— and they were all in all to each other. So the wife of 
Nopatsis had resort to a ruse well known to women 
whose hearts are evil. One day when her husband 
returned from the chase he found her lamenting with 
torn clothes and disordered appearance. She told him 
that Akaiyan had treated her brutally. The lie entered 
into the heart of Nopatsis and made it heavy, so that in 
time he conceived a hatred of his innocent brother, and 

^ The first portion of this legend has its exact counterpart in Egjp- 
tian story. See Wiedemann, Popular Literature ofjinc'ient Egypt, p. 45. 
184 



THE BEAVER MEDICINE LEGEND 

debated with himself how he should rid himself of 
Akaiyan. 

Summer arrived, and with it the moulting season 
when the wild water-fowl shed their feathers, with 
which the Indians fledge their arrows. Near Nopatsis's 
lodge there was a great lake, to which these birds 
resorted in large numbers, and to this place the brothers 
went to collect feathers with which to plume their darts. 
They built a raft to enable them to reach an island in 
the middle of the lake, making it of logs bound securely 
with buffalo-hide. Embarking, they sailed to the little 
island, along the shores of which they walked, looking 
for suitable feathers. They parted in the quest, and 
after some time Akaiyan, who had wandered far along 
the strand, suddenly looked up to see his brother on 
the raft sailing toward the mainland. He called loudly 
to him to return, but Nopatsis replied that he deserved 
to perish there because of the brutal manner in which 
he had treated his sister-in-law. Akaiyan solemnly 
swore that he had not injured her in any way, but 
Nopatsis only jeered at him, and rowed away. Soon 
he was lost to sight, and Akaiyan sat down and wept 
bitterly. He prayed earnestly to the nature spirits and 
to the sun and moon, after which he felt greatly up- 
lifted. Then he improvised a shelter of branches, and 
made a bed of feathers of the most comfortable descrip- 
tion. He lived well on the ducks and geese which 
frequented the island, and made a warm robe against 
the winter season from their skins. He was careful also 
to preserve many of the tame birds for his winter food. 

One day he encountered the lodge of a beaver, and 
while he looked at it curiously he became aware of the 
presence of a little beaver. 

" My father desires that you will enter his dwelling," 
said the animal. So Akaiyan accepted the invitation 

185 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

and entered the lodge, where the Great Beaver, attended 
by his wife and family, received him. He was, indeed, 
the chief of all the beavers, and white with the snows 
of countless winters. Akaiyan told the Beaver how 
cruelly he had been treated, and the wise animal con- 
doled with him, and invited him to spend the winter in 
his lodge, when he would learn many wonderful and 
useful things. Akaiyan gratefully accepted the invita- 
tion, and when the beavers closed up their lodge for the 
winter he remained with them. They kept him warm 
by placing their thick, soft tails on his body, and taught 
him the secret of the healing art, the use or tobacco, and 
various ceremonial dances, songs, and prayers belonging 
to the great mystery of ' medicine.' 

The summer returned, and on parting the Beaver 
asked Akaiyan to choose a gift. He chose the Beaver's 
youngest child, with whom he had contracted a strong 
friendship ; but the father prized his little one greatly, 
and would not at first permit him to go. At length, 
however. Great Beaver gave way to Akaiyan's entreaties 
and allowed him to take Little Beaver with him, coun- 
selling him to construct a sacred Beaver Bundle when 
he arrived at his native village. 

In due time Nopatsis came to the island on his raft, 
and, making sure that his brother was dead, be un to 
search for his remains. But while he searched, A.' iyan 
caught up Little Beaver in his arms and, embarking on 
the raft, made for the mainland, espied by Nopatsis. 
When Akaiyan arrived at his native village he told his 
story to the chief, gathered a Beaver Bundle, and com- 
menced to teach the people the mystery of * medicine,' 
with its accompanying songs and dances. Then he 
invited the chiefs of the animal tribes to contribute 
their knowledge to the Beaver Medicine, which many 
of them did. 
i86 



THE SACRED BEAR-SPEAR 

Having accomplished his task of instruction, which 
occupied him all the winter, Akaiyan returned to the 
island with Little Beaver, who had been of immense 
service to him in teaching the Indians the * medicine ' 
songs and dances. He returned Little Beaver to his 
parents, and received in exchange for him a sacred pipe, 
being also instructed in its accompanying songs and 
ceremonial dances. On the island he found the bones 
of his credulous and vengeful brother, who had met 
with the fate he had purposed for the innocent Akai- 
yan. Every spring Akaiyan visited the beavers, and as 
regularly he received something to add to the Beaver 
Medicine Bundle, until it reached the great size it now 
has. And he married and founded a race of medicine- 
men who have handed down the traditions and cere- 
monials of the Beaver Medicine to the present day. 

The Sacred Bear'Spear 

An interesting Blackfoot myth relates how that tribe 
obtained its sacred Bear-spear. Many generations ago, 
even before the Blackfeet used horses as beasts of 
burden, the tribe was undertaking its autumn migra- 
tion, when one evening before striking camp for the 
night it was reported that a dog-sledge or cart belonging 
to th^ chief was missing. To make matters worse, the 
chic' ermine robe and his wife's buckskin dress, with 
her oacred elk-skin robe, had been packed in the little 
art. Strangely enough, no one could recollect having 
noticed the dog during the march. Messengers were 
dispatched to the camping-site of the night before, but 
to no avail. At last the chief's son, Sokumapi, a boy 
about twelve years of age, begged to be allowed to 
search for the missing dog, a proposal to which his 
father, after some demur, consented. Sokumapi set 
out alone for the last camping-ground, which was under 

187 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

the shadows of the Rocky Mountains, and carefully 
examhied the site. Soon he found a single dog-sledge 
track leading into a deep gulch, near the entrance to 
which he discovered a large cave. A heap of freshly 
turned earth stood in front of the cave, beside which 
was the missing cart. As he stood looking at it, 
wondering what had become of the dog which had 
drawn it, an immense grizzly-bear suddenly dashed 
out. So rapid was its attack that Sokumapi had no 
chance either to defend himself or to take refuge in 
flight. The bear, giving vent to the most terrific 
roars, dragged him into the cave, hugging him with 
such force that he fainted. When he regained conscious- 
ness it was to find the bear's great head within a foot 
of his own, and he thought that he saw a kindly and 
almost human expression in its big brown eyes. For 
a long time he lay still, until at last, to his intense 
surprise, the Bear broke the silence by addressing him 
in human speech. 

" Have no fear," said the grizzly. " I am the Great 
Bear, and my power is extensive. I know the circum- 
stances of your search, and I have drawn you to this 
cavern because I desired to assist you. Winter is upon 
us, and you had better remain with me during the cold 
season, in the course of which I will reveal to you the 
secret of my supernatural power." 

Bear Magic 

It will be observed that the circumstances of this tale 
are almost identical with those which relate to the 
manner in which the Beaver Medicine was revealed to 
mankind. The hero of both stories remains during the 
winter with the animal, the chief of its species, who in 
the period of hibernation instructs him in certain potent 
mysteries. 
i88 



HOW THE MAGIC WORKED 
The Bear, having reassured Sokumapi, showed him 
how to transform various substances into food. His 
strange host slept during most of the winter ; but when 
the warm winds of spring returned and the snows 
melted from the hills the grizzly became restless, and 
told Sokumapi that it was time to leave the cave. Before 
they quitted it, however, he taught the lad the secret of 
his supernatural power. Among other things, he showed 
him how to make a Bear-spear. He instructed him to 
take a long stick, to one end of which he must secure 
a sharp point, to symbolize the bear's tusks. To the 
staff must be attached a bear's nose and teeth, while the 
rest of the spear was to be covered with bear's skin, 
painted the sacred colour, red. The Bear also told him 
to decorate the handle with eagle's feathers and grizzly 
claws, and in war-time to wear a grizzly claw in his hair, 
so that the strength of the Great Bear might go with 
him in battle, and to imitate the noise a grizzly makes 
when it charges. The Bear furthermore instructed him 
what songs should be used in order to heal the sick, and 
how to paint his face and body so that he would be 
invulnerable in battle, and, lastly, told him of the sacred 
nature of the spear, which was only to be employed in 
warfare and for curing disease. Thus if a person was 
sick unto death, and a relative purchased the Bear-spear, 
its supernatural power would restore the ailing man 
to health. Equipped with this knowledge, Sokumapi 
returned to his people, who had long mourned him as 
dead. After a feast had been given to celebrate his 
home-coming he began to manufacture the Bear-spear 
as directed by his friend. 

How the Magic Worked 

Shortly after his return the Crows made war upon 
the Blackfeet, and on the meeting of the two tribes in 

189 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

battle Sokumapi appeared in front of his people carrying 
the Bear-spear on his back. His face and body were 
painted as the Great Bear had instructed him, and he 
sang the battle-songs that the grizzly had taught him. 
After these ceremonies he impetuously charged the 
enemy, followed by all his braves in a solid phalanx, 
and such was the efficacy of the Bear magic that the 
Crows immediately took to flight. The victorious 
Blackfeet brought back Sokumapi to their camp in 
triumph, to the accompaniment of the Bear songs. He 
was made a war-chief, and ever afterward the spear 
which he had used was regarded as the palladium of 
the Blackfoot Indians. In the spring the Bear-spear is 
unrolled from its covering and produced when the first 
thunder is heard, and when the Bear begins to quit his 
winter quarters ; but when the Bear returns to his den 
to hibernate the spear is once more rolled up and put 
away. The greatest care is taken to protect it against 
injury. It has a special guardian, and no woman is 
permitted to touch it. 

The Young Dog Dance 

A dance resembling the Sun Dance was formerly 
known to the Pawnee Indians, who called it the Young 
Dog Dance. It was, they said, borrowed from the 
Crees, who produced the following myth to account 
for it. 

One day a young brave of the Cree tribe had gone 
out from his village to catch eagles, in order to provide 
himself with feathers for a war-bonnet, or to tie in his 
hair. Now the Crees caught eagles in this fashion. 
On the top of a hill frequented by these birds they 
would dig a pit and cover it over with a roof of pcles, 
cunningly concealing the structure with grass. A pici. ' 
of meat was fastened to the poles, so that the eagles 
190 



THE LODGE OF ANIMALS 

could not carry it off. Then the Indian, taking off 
his clothes, would descend into the pit, and remain 
there for hours, or days, as the case might be, until an 
eagle was attracted by the bait, when he would put his 
hand between the poles, seize the bird by the feet, and 
quickly dispatch it. 

The young brave whose fortune it was to discover 
the Young Dog Dance had prepared the trap in this 
wise, and was lying in the pit praying that an eagle 
might come and bring his uncomfortable vigil to an 
end. Suddenly he heard a sound of drumming, distant 
but quite distinct, though he could not tell from what 
direction it proceeded. All night the mysterious noise 
continued. Next night as he lay in the same position 
he heard it again, and resolved to find out its origin, 
so he clambered out of his pit and went off in the 
direction from which the drum-beating seemed to pro- 
ceed. At last, when dawn was near, he reached the 
shores of a great lake. Here he stopped, for the sounds 
quite evidently came from the lake. All that day he 
sat by the water bemoaning his ill-luck and praying 
for better fortune. When night fell the drumming 
began anew, and the young man saw countless animals 
and birds swimming in the lake. Four days he re- 
mained on the lake-shore, till at length, worn out by 
fatigue and hunger (for many days had elapsed since 
he had eaten), he fell asleep. 

The Lodge of Animals 

When he awoke he found himself in a large lodge, 
surrounded by many people, some of whom were 
dancing, while others sat round the walls. All these 
people wore robes made from the skins of various 
luiimals or birds. They were, in fact, the animals the 
young Indian had seen swimming in the water, who 

19J 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

had changed themselves into human shape. A chief 
at the back of the lodge stood up and addressed him 
thus : 

" My friend, we have heard your prayers, and our 
desire is to help you. You see these people ? They 
represent the animals. I am the Dog. The Great 
Spirit is very fond of dogs. I have much power, and 
my power I shall give to you, so that you may be like 
me, and my spirit will always protect you. Take this 
dance home to your people, and it will make them 
lucky in war." And he imparted the nature of the rite 
to the Indian by action. 

The Dog turned from the Cree brave and his eye 
swept the company. 

The Gift 

" Brothers," he said, " I have given him my power. 
Will you not pity him and give him the power you 
have ?" 

For a time there was silence. No one seemed dis- 
posed to respond to the chief's appeal. At last the Owl 
rose. 

"I will help you," he said to the young man. "I 
have power to see in the dark wherever I may go. 
When you go out at night I will be near you, and you 
shall see as well as I do. Take these feathers and tie 
them in your hair." And, giving him a bunch of 
feathers, the Owl sat down. 

There was a pause, and the next to rise was the 
Buffalo Bull, who gave to the young Indian his strength 
and endurance and the power to trample his enemies 
underfoot. As a token he gave him a shoulder-belt 
of tanned buffalo-hide, bidding him wear it when he 
went on the war-path. 

By and by the Porcupine stood up and addressed 
192 



THE MEDICINE WOLF 

the guest. Giving him some of his quills with which 
to ornament the leather belt, he said : 

" I also will help you. 1 can make my enemies as 
weak as women, so that they fly before me. When you 
fight your foes shall flee and you shall overcome them." 

Another long silence ensued, and when at last the 
Eagle rose every one listened to hear what he had to 
say. 

"I also," he said majestically, "will be with you 
wherever you go, and will give you my prowess in war, 
so that you may kill your foes as I do." As he spoke 
he handed to the brave some eagle feathers to tie in his 
hair. 

The Whooping Crane followed, and gave him a bone 
from its wing for a war-whistle to frighten his enemies 
away. 

The Deer and the Bear came next, the one giving 
him swiftness, with a rattle as token, and the other 
hardiness, and a strip of fur for his belt. 

After he had received these gifts from the animals 
the brave lay down and fell asleep again. When he 
awoke he found himself on the shores of the lake once 
more. 

Returning home, he taught the Crees the Young Dog 
Dance, which was to make them skilful in war, and 
showed them the articles he had received. So the 
young men formed a Society of Young Dogs, which 
practised the dance and obtained the benefits. 

The Medicine "Wolf 

A quaint story of a * medicine ' wolf is told among the 
Blackfoot Indians. On one occasion when the Black- 
feet were moving camp they were attacked by a 
number of Crow Indians who had been lying in wait 
for them. The Blackfect were travelling slowly in a 

193 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

long, straggling line, with the old men and the women 
and children in the middle, and a band of warriors in 
front and in the rear. The Crows, as has been said, 
made an ambush for their enemies, and rushed out on 
the middle portion of the line. Before either party of 
the Blackfoot warriors could reach the scene of the 
struggle many of the women and children had perished, 
and others were taken captive by the attacking force. 
Among the prisoners was a young woman called Sits- 
by-the-door. Many weary miles lay between them 
and the Crow camp on the Yellowstone River, but at 
length the tired captives, mounted with their captors 
on jaded horses, arrived at their destination. The 
warrior who had taken Sits-by-the-door prisoner now 
presented her to a friend of his, who in turn gave her 
into the keeping of his wife, who was somewhat older 
than her charge. The young Blackfoot woman was 
cruelly treated by the Crow into whose possession she 
had passed. Every night he tied her feet together so 
that she might not escape, and also tied a rope round 
her waist, the other end of which he fastened to his 
wife. The Crow woman, however, was not unmoved 
by the wretchedness of her prisoner. While her 
husband was out she managed to converse with her 
and to show her that she pitied her misfortunes. One 
day she informed Sits-by-the-door that she had over- 
heard her husband and his companions plotting to kill 
her, but she added that when darkness fell she would 
help her to escape. When night came the Crow 
woman waited until the deep breathing of her hus- 
band told her that he was sound asleep ; then, rising 
cautiously, she loosened the ropes that bound her 
captive, and, giving her a pair of moccasins, a flint, 
and a small sack of pemmican, bade her make haste 
and escape from the fate that would surely befall her 
194 



THE FRIENDLY WOLF 

if she remained where she was. The trembling woman 
obeyed, and travelled at a good pace all night. At dawn 
she hid in the dense undergrowth, hoping to escape 
observation should her captors pursue her. They, mean- 
while, had discovered her absence, and were searching 
high and low, but no tracks were visible, and at last, 
wearied with their unprofitable search, they gave up the 
chase and returned to their homes. 

The Friendly Wolf 

When the woman had journeyed on for four nights 
she stopped concealing herself in the daytime and 
travelled straight on. She was not yet out of danger, 
however, for her supply of pemmican was soon ex- 
hausted, and she found herself face to face with the 
miseries of starvation. Her moccasins, besides, were 
worn to holes and her feet were cut and bleeding, 
while, to add to her misfortunes, a huge wolf dogged 
her every movement. In vain she tried to run away ; 
her strength was exhausted and she sank to the ground. 
Nearer and nearer came the great wolf, and at last he 
lay down at her feet. Whenever the woman walked 
on her way the wolf followed, and when she lay down 
to rest he lay down also. 

At length she begged her strange companion to help 
her, for she knew that unless she obtained food very 
soon she must die. The animal trotted away, and 
returned shortly with a buffalo calf which it had killed, 
and laid it at the woman's feet. With the aid of the 
flint — one of the gifts with which the Crow woman 
had sped her unhappy guest — she built a fire and 
cooked some of the buffalo meat. Thus refreshed, 
she proceeded on her way. Again and again the wolf 
provided food in a similar manner, until at length they 
reached the Blackfoot camp. The woman led the animal 

195 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
into her lodge, and related to her friends all that had 
befallen her in the Crow camp, and the manner of her 
escape. She also told them how the wolf had befriended 
her, and begged them to treat it kindly. But soon 
afterward she fell ill, and the poor wolf was driven out 
of the village by the Indian dogs. Every evening he 
would come to the top of a hill overlooking the camp and 
watch the lodge where Sits-by-the-door dwelt. Though 
he was still fed by her friends, after a time he disappeared 
and was seen no more.^ 

The Story of Scar-facc 

Scar-face was brave but poor. His parents had died 
while he was yet a boy, and he had no near relations. 
But his heart was high, and he was a mighty hunter. 
The old men said that Scar-face had a future before 
him, but the young braves twitted him because of a 
mark across his face, left by the rending claw of a great 
grizzly which he had slain in close fight. 

The chief of his tribe possessed a beautiful daughter, 
whom all the young men desired in marriage. Scar- 
face also had fallen in love with her, but he felt 
ashamed to declare his passion because of his poverty. 
The maiden had already repulsed half the braves of his 
tribe. Why, he argued, should she accept him, poor 
and disfigured as he was .'' 

One day he passed her as she sat outside her lodge. 
He cast a penetrating glance at her — a glance which 
was observed by one of her unsuccessful suitors, who 
sneeringly remarked : 

" Scar-face would marry our chiePs daughter ! She 
does not desire a man without a blemish. Ha, Scar- 
face, now is your chance ! " 

^ The reader cannot fail to discern the striking resemblance between 
this episode and that of Una and the lion in Spenser's Faerie Queene, 
196 



THE SUN-GOD'S DECREE 

Scar-face turned upon the jeerer, and in his quiet 
yet dignified manner remarked that it was his inten- 
tion to ask the chief's daughter to be his wife. His 
announcement met with ridicule, but he took no notice 
of it and sought the girl. 

He found her by the river, pulling rushes to make 
baskets. Approaching, he respectfully addressed her. 

" I am poor," he said, " but my heart is rich in love 
for you. I have no wealth of furs or pemmican. 1 
live by my bow and spear. I love you. Will you 
dwell with me in my lodge and be my wife } " 

The Suri'God's Decree 

The girl regarded him with bright, shy eyes peering 
up through lashes as the morning sun peers through 
the branches. 

" My husband would not be poor," she faltered, 
" for my father, the chief, is wealthy and has abund- 
ance in his lodge. But it has been laid upon me by 
the Sun-god that I may not marry." 

" These are heavy words," said Scar- face sadly. 
" May they not be recalled ?" 

" On one condition only," replied the girl. " Seek 
the Sun-god and ask him to release me from my 
promise. If he consents to do so, request him to 
remove the scar from your face as a sign that I may 
know that he gives me to you." 

Scar-face was sad at heart, for he could not believe 
that the Sun-god, having chosen such a beautiful 
maiden for himself, would renounce her. But he gave 
the chief's daughter his promise that he would seek out 
the god in his own bright country and ask him to grant 
his request. 

For many moons Scar-face sought the home of the 
Sun-god. He traversed wide plains and dense forests, 

o 197 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

crossed rivers and lofty mountains, yet never a trace 
of the golden gates of the dwelling of the God of 
Light could he see. 

Many inquiries did he make from the wild denizens 
of the forest — the wolf, the bear, the badger. But 
none was aware of the way to the home of the Sun- 
god. He asked the birds, but though they flew far 
they were likewise in ignorance of the road thither. 
At last he met a wolverine who told him that he had 
been there himself, and promised to set him on the 
way. For a long and weary season they marched 
onward, until at length they came to a great water, 
too broad and too deep to cross. 

As Scar-face sat despondent on the bank bemoan- 
ing: his case two beautiful swans advanced from the 
water, and, requesting him to sit on their backs, bore 
him across in safety. Landing him on the other side, 
they showed him which way to take and left him. He 
had not walked far when he saw a bow and arrows 
lying before him. But Scar-face was punctilious and 
would not pick them up because they did not belong 
to him. Not long afterward he encountered a beauti- 
ful youth of handsome form and smiling aspect. 

" I have lost a bow and arrows," he said to Scar- 
face. " Have you seen them ? " 

Scar-face told him that he had seen them a little way 
back, and the handsome youth praised him for his 
honesty in not appropriating them. He further asked 
him where he was bound for. 

" I am seeking the Sun in his home," replied the 
Indian, "and I believe that I am not far from my 
destination." 

"You are right," replied the youth. " I am the son 
of the Sun, Apisirahts, the Morning Star, and I will 
lead you to the presence of my august father." 
198 



THE CHASE OF THE SAVAGE BIRDS 

They walked onward for a little space, and then 
Apisirahts pointed out a great lodge, glorious with 
golden light and decorated with an art more curious 
than any that Scar-face had ever beheld. At the 
entrance stood a beautiful woman, the mother of 
Morning Star, Kokomikis, the Moon-goddess, who 
welcomed the footsore Indian kindly and joyously. 

The Chase of the Savage Birds 

Then the great Sun-god appeared, wondrous in his 
strength and beauty as the mighty planet over which 
he ruled. He too greeted Scar-face kindly, and re- 
quested him to be his guest and to hunt with his son. 
Scar-face and the youth gladly set out for the chase. 
But on departing the Sun-god warned them not to 
venture near the Great Water, as there dwelt savage 
birds which might slay Morning Star. 

Scar-face tarried with the Sun, his wife and child, 
fearful of asking his boon too speedily, and desiring to 
make as sure as possible of its being granted. 

One day he and Morning Star hunted as usual, and 
the youth stole away, for he wished to slay the savage 
birds of which his father had spoken. But Scar-face 
followed, rescued the lad in imminent peril, and killed 
the monsters. The Sun was grateful to him for 
having saved his son from a terrible death, and asked 
him for what reason he had sought his lodge. Scar- 
face acquainted him with the circumstances of his love 
for the chief's daughter and of his quest. At once the 
Sun-god granted his desire. 

" Return to the woman you love so much," he said, 
"return and make her yours. And as a sign that it 
is my will that she should be your wife, I make you 
whole." 

With a motion of his bright hand the deity removed 

199 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

the unsightly scar. On quitting the Sun-country the 
god, his wife and son presented Scar-face with many 
good gifts, and showed him a short route by which to 
return to Earth-land once more. 

Scar-face soon reached his home. When he sought 
his chief's daughter she did not know him at fi.-st, so 
rich was the gleaming attire he had obtained in the 
Sun-country. But when she at last recognized him 
she fell upon his breast with a glad cry. That same 
day she was made his wife. The happy pair raised 
a * medicine ' lodge to the Sun-god, and henceforth 
Scar-face was called Smooth-face. 

The Legend of Poia 

A variant of this beautiful story is as follows : 

One summer morning a beautiful girl called Feather- 
woman, who had been sleeping outside her lodge 
among the long prairie grass, awoke just as the 
Morning Star was rising above the horizon. She crazed 
intently at it, and so beautiful did it seem that she fell 
deeply in love with it. She awakened her sister, who 
was lying beside her, and declared to her that she would 
marry nobody but the Morning Star. The people of 
her tribe ridiculed her because of what they considered 
her absurd preference ; so she avoided them as much 
as possible, and wandered alone, eating her heart out 
in secret for love of the Morning Star, who seemed to 
her unapproachable. 

One day she went alone to the river for water, and 
as she returned she beheld a young man standing 
before her. At first she took him for one of the 
young men of the tribe, and would have avoided him, 
but he said : 

" I am the Morning Star. I beheld you gazing up- 
ward at me, and knew that you loved me. I returned 

200 



THE GREAT TURNIP 

your love, and have descended to ask you to go with 
me to my dwelling in the sky." 

Feather-woman trembled violently, for she knew 
that he who spoke to her was a god, and replied 
hesitatingly that she must bid farewell to her father 
and Mother. But this Morning Star would not per- 
mit. He took a rich yellow plume from his hair and 
directed her to hold this in one hand, while she held 
a juniper branch in the other. Then he commanded 
her to close her eyes, and when she opened them again 
she was in the Sky-country, standing before a great 
and shining lodge. Morning Star told her that this 
was the home or his parents, the Sun and Moon, and 
requested her to enter. It was daytime, so that the 
Sun was away on his diurnal round, but the Moon 
was at home. She welcomed Feather-woman as the 
wife of her son, as did the Sun himself when he re- 
turned. The Moon clothed her in a soft robe of 
buckskin, trimmed with elks' teeth. Feather-woman 
was very happy, and dwelt contentedly in the lodge or 
Morning Star. They had a little son, whom they 
called Star-boy. The Moon gave Feather-woman a 
root-digger, and told her that she could dig up all 
kinds of roots, but warned her on no account to dig 
up the large turnip which grew near the home of the 
Spider Man, telling her that it would bring unhappiness 
to all of them if she did so. 

The Great Turnip 

Feather-woman often saw the large turnip, but 
always avoided touching it. One day, however, her 
curiosity got the better of her, and she was tempted 
to see what might be underneath it. She laid her 
little son on the ground and dug until her root-digger 
stuck fast. Two large cranes came flying overhead. 

20I 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

She begged these to help her. They did so, and sang 
a magic song which enabled them to uproot the turnip. 

Now, although she was unaware of it, this very 
turnip filled up the hole through which Morning Star 
had brought her into the Sky-country. Gazing down- 
ward, she saw the camp of the Blackfeet where she had 
lived. The smoke was ascending from the lodges, she 
could hear the song of the women as they went about 
their work. The sight made her homesick and lonely, 
and as she went back to her lodge she cried softly 
to herself. When she arrived Morning Star gazed 
earnestly at her, and said with a sorrowful expres- 
sion of countenance : " You have dug up the sacred 
turnip." 

The Moon and Sun were also troubled, and asked 
her the meaning of her sadness, and when she had 
told them they said that as she had disobeyed their 
injunction she must return to earth. Morning Star 
took her to the Spider Man, who let her down to earth 
by a web, and the people beheld her coming to earth 
like a falling star. 

The Return to Earth 

She was welcomed by her parents, and returned with 
her child, whom she had brought with her from the 
Sky-country, to the home of her youth. But happi- 
ness never came back to her. She mourned ceaselessly 
for her husband, and one morning, climbing to the 
summit of a high mound, she watched the beautiful 
Morning Star rise above the horizon, just as on the 
day when she had first loved him. Stretching out her 
arms to the eastern sky, she besought him passionately 
to take her back. At length he spoke to her. 

"It is because of your own sin," he said, "that you 
are for ever shut out from the Sky-country. Your 

202 




" Gazing downward, she saw the camp of the Blackfeet " 202 



THE BIG WATER 

disobedience has brought sorrow upon yourself and 
upon all your people." 

Her pleadings were in vain, and in despair she 
returned to her lodge, where her unhappy life soon 
came to a close. Her little son, Star-boy, was now an 
orphan, and the death of his grandparents deprived 
him of all his earthly kindred. He was a shy, retiring, 
timid boy, living in the deepest poverty, notwith- 
standing his exalted station as grandchild of the Sun. 
But the most noticeable thing about him was a scar 
which disfigured his face, because of which he was 
given the name of Poia (Scar-face) by the wits of the 
tribe. As he grew older the scar became more pro- 
nounced, and ridicule and abuse were heaped upon 
him. When he became a man he fell in love with a 
maiden of surpassing beauty, the daughter of a great 
chief of his tribe. She, however, laughed him to 
scorn, and told him that she would marry him when 
he removed the scar from his face. PoTa, greatly 
saddened by her unkindness, consulted an old medicine- 
woman, to see whether the scar might not be removed. 
She could only tell him that the mark had been placed 
on his face by the Sun, and that the Sun alone could 
remove it. This was melancholy news for Po'la. 
How could he reach the abode of the Sun .'* Never- 
theless, encouraged by the old woman, he resolved 
to make the attempt. Gratefully accepting her parting 
gift of pemmican and moccasins, he set off on a journey 
that was to last for many days. 

The Big Water 

After climbing mountains and traversing forests and 
wandering over trackless prairies he arrived at the Big 
Water (that is to say, the Pacific Ocean), on the shores 
of which he sat down, praying and fasting for three 

Z03 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

days. On the third day, when the Sun was sinking 
behind the rim of the ocean, he saw a bright pathway 
leading straight to the abode of the Sun. He resolved 
to follow the shining trail, though he knew not what 
might lie before him in the great Sky-country. He 
arrived quite safely, however, at the wonderful lodge 
of the Sun. All night he hid himself outside the lodge, 
and in the morning the Sun, who was about to begin 
his daily journey, saw a ragged wayfarer lying by his 
door. He did not know that the intruder was his 
grandson, but, seeing that he had come from the Earth- 
country, he determined to kill him, and said so to his 
wife, the Moon. But she begged that the stranger's 
life should be spared, and Morning Star, who at that 
moment issued from the lodge, also gave Poia his 
protection. Poi'a lived very happily in the lodge of the 
Sun, and having on one occasion killed seven birds 
who were about to destroy Morning Star, he earned 
the gratitude of his grandparents. At the request of 
Morning Star the Sun removed the scar on Poia's face, 
and bade him return with a message to the Blackfeet. 
If they would honour him once a year in a Sun Dance 
he would consent to heal their sick. The secrets of 
the Sun Dance were taught to Po'la, two raven's feathers 
were placed in his hair, and he was given a robe of 
elk-skin. The latter, he was told, must only be worn 
by a virtuous woman, who should then dance the Sun 
Dance, so that the sick might be restored to health. 
From his father Poia received an enchanted flute and a 
magic song, which would win the heart of the maid he 
loved. 

PoYa came to earth by the Milky Way, or, as the 
Indians call it, the Wolf-trail, and communicated to the 
Blackfeet all that he had learned in the Sky-country. 
When they were thoroughly conversant with the Sun 
204 



A BLACKFOOT DAY-AND-NIGHT MYTH 

Dance he returned to the Sky-country, the home of his 
father, accompanied by his beautiful bride. Here they 
dwelt together happily, and Po!a and the Morning Star 
travelled together through the sky. 

A Blackfoot Dayand'Night Myth 

Many stories are told by the Blackfoot Indians of 
their creator, Napi, and these chiefly relate to the 
manner in which he made the world and its inhabitants. 

One myth connected with this deity tells how a poor 
Indian who had a wife and two children lived in the 
greatest indigence on roots and berries. This man had 
a dream in which he heard a voice command him to 
procure a large spider-web, which he was to hang on 
the trail of the animals where they passed through the 
forest, by which means he would obtain plenty of food. 
This he did, and on returning to the place in which he 
had hung the web he found deer and rabbits entangled 
in its magical meshes. These he killed for food, for 
which he was now never at a loss. 

Returning with his game on his shoulders one 
morning, he discovered his wife perfuming herself with 
sweet pine, which she burned over the fire. He sus- 
pected that she was thus making herself attractive for 
the benefit of some one else, but, preserving silence, he 
told her that on the following day he would set his 
spider-web at a greater distance, as the game in the 
neighbouring forest was beginning to know the trap too 
well. Accordingly he went farther afield, and caught 
a deer, which he cut up, carrying part of its meat back 
with him to his lodge. He told his wife where the 
remainder of the carcass was to be found, and asked 
her to go and fetch it. 

His wife, however, was not without her own sus- 
picions, and, concluding that she was being watched by 

205 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

her husband, she halted at the top of the nearest hill 
and looked back to see if he was following her. But 
he was sitting where she had left him, so she proceeded 
on her way. When she was quite out of sight the 
Indian himself climbed the hill, and, seeing that she 
was not in the vicinity, returned to the camp. He 
inquired of his children where their mother went to 
gather firewood, and they pointed to a large patch of 
dead timber. Proceeding to the clump of leafless 
trees, the man instituted a thorough search, and after a 
while discovered a den of rattlesnakes. Now it was 
one of these reptiles with which his wife was in love, so 
the Indian in his wrath gathered fragments of dry wood 
and set the whole plantation in a blaze. Then he 
returned to his lodge and told his children what he had 
done, at the same time warning them that their mother 
would be very wrathful, and would probably attempt to 
kill them all. He further said that he would wait for 
her return, but that they had better run away, and that 
he would provide them with three things which they 
would find of use. He then handed to the children a 
stick, a stone, and a bunch of moss, which they were to 
throw behind them should their mother pursue them. 
The children at once ran away, and their father hung 
the spider-web over the door of the lodge. Mean- 
while the woman had seen the blaze made by the dry 
timber-patch from a considerable distance, and in great 
anger turned and ran back to the lodge. Attempting 
to enter it, she was at once entangled in the meshes of 
the spider-web. 

The Pursuing Head 

She struggled violently, however, and succeeded in 
getting her head through the opening, whereupon her 
husband severed it from her shoulders with his stone 
206 




^-. 




The Pursuing Head 



206 



I 

I. 



THE FATE OF THE HEAD 

axe- He then ran out of the lodge and down the 
valley, hotly pursued by the woman's body, while her 
head rolled along the ground in chase of the children. 
The latter soon descried the grisly object rolling along 
in their tracks at a great speed, and one of them quickly 
threw the stick behind him as he had been told to do. 
Instantly a dense forest sprang up in their rear, which 
for a space retarded their horrible pursuer. The chil- 
dren made considerable headway, but once more the 
severed head made its appearance, gnashing its teeth in 
a frenzy of rage and rolling its eyes horribly, while it 
shrieked out threats which caused the children's blood 
to turn to water. 

Then another of the boys threw the stone which he had 
been given behind him, and instantly a great mountain 
sprang up which occupied the land from sea to sea, so that 
the progress of the head was quite barred. It could 
perceive no means of overcoming this immense barrier, 
until it encountered two rams feeding, which it asked to 
make a way for it through the mountain, telling them that 
if they would do so it would marry the chief or the sheep. 
The rams made a valiant effort to meet this request, and 
again and again fiercely rushed at the mountain, till their 
^lorns were split and broken and they could butt no 
)nger. The head, growing impatient, called upon a 
3lony of ants which dwelt in the neighbourhood to 
annel a passage through the obstacle, and offered, if 
hey were successful, to marry the chief ant as a recom- 
lense for their labours. The insects at once took up 
he task, and toiled incessantly until they had made a 
unnel throug^h which the head could roll. 

The Fate of the Head 

The children were still running, but felt that the 
aead had not abandoned pursuit. At last, atter a long 

207 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

interval, they observed it rolling after them, evidently 
as fresh as ever. The child who had the bunch of 
moss now wet it and wrung out the water over their 
trail, and immediately an immense strait separated 
them from the land where they had been but a moment 
before. The head, unable to stop, fell into this great 
water and was drowned. 

The children, seeing that their danger was past, 
made a raft and sailed back to the land from which they 
had come. Arrived there, they journeyed eastward 
through many countries, peopled by many different 
tribes of Indians, in order to reach their own territory. 
When they arrived there they found it occupied by 
tribes unknown to them, so they resolved to separate, 
one going north and the other south. One of them 
was shrewd and clever, and the other simple and 
ingenious. The shrewd boy is he who made the white 
people and instructed them in their arts. The other, 
the simple boy, made the Blackfeet, but, being very 
stupid, was unable to teach them anything. He it was 
who was called Napi. As for the mother's body, it 
continued to chase her husband, and is still following 
him, for she is the Moon and he is the Sun. If she 
succeeds in catching him she will slay him, and night 
will reign for evermore, but as long as he is able to 
evade her day and night will continue to follow one 
another. 

Nipi and the Buffalo-Stealer 

There was once a great famine among the Blackfeet. 
For months no buffaloes were killed, and the weaker 
members of the tribe dropped off one by one, while 
even the strong braves and hunters began to sink under 
the privation. The chief in despair prayed that the 
creator, Ndpi, would send them food. Napi, mean- 

20S 



NAPI AND THE BUFFALO-STEALER 

while, was tar away in the south, painting the plumage 
of the birds in gorgeous tints. Nevertheless he heard 
the voice of the chief over all the distance, and hastened 
northward. 

"Who has summoned me .^ " he demanded. 

" It was I," said the chief humbly. " My people 
are starving, and unless relief comes soon I fear we 
must all perish." 

"You shall have food," answered Napi. "I will 
provide game for you." 

Taking with him the chief's son, Napi travelled 
toward the west. As they went the youth prayed 
earnestly to the Sun, the Moon, and the Morning 
Star, but his companion rebuked his impatience and 
bade him hold his peace. They crossed the Sweet 
Grass Hills, which Napi had made from huge handfuls 
of herbage, and where he loved to rest. Still there 
was no sign of game. At length they reached a little 
lodge by the side of a river, and Napi called a halt. 

" There dwells the cause of your misfortunes," said 
he. " He who lives in that lodge is the Buffalo-stealer. 
He it is who has taken all the herds from the prairies, 
so that there is none left." 

To further his design, Ndpi took the shape of a dog, 
and turned the youth into a stick. Not long afterward 
the little son of Buffalo-stealer was passing that way, 
and immediately desired to take the little dog home 
with him. 

" Very well," said his mother ; " take that stick and 
drive it to the lodge." 

But the boy's father frowned angrily. 

" I do not like the look of the beast," he said. " Send 
it away." 

The boy refused to part with the dog, and his mother 
wanted the stick to gather roots with, so the father was 

209 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
obliged to give way. Still he did not show any good- 
will to the dog. The following day he went out of 
the lodge, and in a short time returned with a buffalo, 
which he skinned and prepared for cooking. His wife, 
who was in the woods gathering berries, came home 
toward evening, and at her husband's bidding cooked 
part of the buffalo-meat. The little boy incurred his 
father's anger again by giving a piece of meat to the dog. 

"Have I not told you," cried Buffalo-stealer irately, 
"that he is an evil thing .'' Do not touch him." 

That night when all was silent Napi and the chief's 
son resumed their human form and supped off the 
buffalo-meat. 

" It is Buffalo-stealer who keeps the herds from 
coming near the Blackfoot camp," said Napi. " Wait 
till morning and see." 

The Herds of BuffalcStealcr 

In the morning they were once more dog and stick. 
When the woman and her child awoke they set off for 
the woods again, the former taking the stick to dig for 
roots, the latter calling for his little dog to accompany 
him. Alas I when they reached the spot they had 
fixed upon for root-gathering operations both dog and 
stick had vanished ! And this was the reason for their 
disappearance. As the dog was trotting through the 
wood he had observed an opening like the mouth of a 
cavern, all but concealed by the thick undergrowth, and 
in the aperture he perceived a buffalo. His short, 
sharp barking attracted the attention of the stick, which 
promptly wriggled snake-wise after him. W^ithin the 
cavern were great herds of deer and buffalo, enough to 
provide the Blackfeet with food for years and years. 
Ndpi ran among them, barking, and they were driven 
out to the prairie. 

2IO 



THE HERDS OF BUFFALO-STEALER 

When BufFalo-stealer returned and discovered his 
loss his wrath knew no bounds. He questioned his 
wife and son, but they denied all knowledge of the 
affair. 

" Then," said he, " it is that wretched little dog of 
yours. Where is he now .'' " 

But the child could not tell him. 

" We lost him in the woods," said he. 

"I shall kill him," shouted the man, "and 1 shall 
break the stick as well ! " 

Napi overheard the threat, and clung to the long 
hair of an old buffalo. He advised the stick to con- 
ceal itself in the buffalo's hair also, and so the twain 
escaped unnoticed from the cave, much as did Ulysses 
from the Cyclops' cavern. Once again they took the 
form of men, and drove a herd of buffalo to the Black- 
foot camp, while Buffalo-stealer and his family sought 
them in vain. 

The people met them with delighted acclamations, 
and the famine was at an end. Yet there were still 
some difficulties in the way, for when they tried to get 
the herd into the enclosure a large grey bird so 
frightened the animals with its dismal note that they 
refused to enter. This occurred so often that NApi 
suspected that the grey bird was no other than Buffalo- 
stealer. Changing himself into an otter, he lay by the 
side of a river and pretended to be dead. The greedy 
bird saw what he thought to be a dead otter, and 
pounced upon it, whereupon Ndpi seized him by the 
leg and bore him off to the camp. By way of punish- 
ment he was tied over the smoke-hole of the wigwam, 
where his grey feathers soon became black and his life 
a burden to him. 

"Spare me ! " he cried. "Let me return to my 
wife and child. They will surely starve." 

zii 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

His piteous appeals moved the heart of Ndpi, and 
he let him go, but not without an admonition. 

" Go," said he, " and hunt for food, that you may 
support your wife and child. But do not take more 
than you need, or you shall die." 

The bird did as he was bidden. But to this day the 
feathers of the raven are black, and not grey. 

The Story of Kutoyis 

There once lived on the banks of the Missouri an 
old couple who had one daughter, their only child. 
When she grew to be a woman she had a suitor who 
was cruel and overbearing, but as she loved him her 
parents offered no opposition to their marriage. Indeed, 
they gave the bride the best part of their possessions 
for a dowry, so that she and her husband were rich, 
while her father and mother lived in a poor lodge and 
had very little to eat. The wicked son-in-law took 
advantage of their kindness in every way. He forced 
the old man to accompany him on his hunting expedi- 
tions, and then refused to share the game with him. 
Sometimes one would kill a buffalo and sometimes the 
other, but always it was the younger man who got the 
best of the meat and who made himself robes and 
moccasins from the hide. 

Thus the aged couple were nearly perishing from 
cold and hunger. Only when her husband was out 
hunting would the daughter venture to carry a morsel 
of meat to her parents. 

On one occasion the younger man called in his 
overbearing way to his father-in-law, bidding him help 
in a buffalo-hunt. The old man, reduced by want 
almost to a skeleton, was too much afraid of the tyrant 
to venture to disobey him, so he accompanied him in 
the chase. Ere long they encountered a fine buffalo, 

312 



HOW KUTOYIS WAS BORN 

whereupon both drew their bows and fired. But it was 
the arrow of the elder man which pierced the animal and 
brought it to the ground. The old man set himself to 
skin the buffalo, for his son-in-law never shared in these 
tasks, but left them to his companion. While he was thus 
engaged the latter observed a drop of blood on one of his 
arrows which had fallen to the ground. 

Thinking that even a drop of blood was better than 
nothing, he replaced the arrow in its quiver and set 
off home. As it happened, no more of the buffalo 
than that fell to his share, the rest being appropriated 
by his son-in-law. 

On his return the old man called to his wife to heap 
fuel on the fire and put on the kettle. She, thinking 
he had brought home some buffalo-meat, hastened to 
do his bidding. She waited curiously till the water in 
the kettle had boiled ; then to her surprise she saw him 
place in it an arrow with a drop of blood on it. 

How Kutoyis was Born 

" Why do you do that ? " she asked. 

"Something will come of it," he replied. "My 
spirit tells me so." 

They waited in silence. 

Then a strange sound was heard in their lonely little 
lodge — the crying of a child. Half fearfully, half 
curiously, the old couple lifted the lid of the kettle, 
and there within was a little baby boy. 

" He shall bring us good luck," said the old Indian. 

They called the child Kutoyis — that is, 'Drop of 
Blood ' — and wrapped him up as is customary with 
Indian babies. 

" Let us tell our son-in-law," said the old man, 
" that it is a little girl, and he will let it live. If we 
say it is a boy he will surely kill it." 

p 213 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Kutoyls became a great favourite in the little lodge 
to which he had come. He was always laughing, and 
his merriment won the hearts of the old people. One 
day, while they thought him much too young to speak, 
they were astonished to hear his voice. 

" Lash me up and hang me from the lodge pole," 
said he, "and I shall become a man." 

When they had recovered from their astonishment 
they lashed him to the lodge pole. In a moment he 
had burst the lashings and grown before their eyes into 
a tall, strong man. Looking round the lodge, which 
seemed scarcely large enough to hold him, Kutoyis 
perceived that there was no food about. 

" Give me some arrows," said he, " and I will bring 
you food." 

"We have no arrows," replied the old man, " only 
four arrow-heads." 

Kutoyis fetched some wood, from which he cut a 
fine bow, and shafts to fit the flint arrow-heads. He 
begged the old Indian to lead him to a good hunting- 
ground, and when he had done so they quickly killed 
a magnificent buffalo. 

Meanwhile the old Indian liad told Kutoyis how 
badly his son-in-law had treated him, and as they were 
skinning the buffalo who should pass by but the subject 
of their conversation. Kutoyis hid behind the dead 
animal to see what would happen, and a moment later 
the angry voice of the son-in-law was heard. 

Getting no reply, the cowardly hunter fitted an arrow 
to his bow and shot it at his father-in-law. Enraged at 
the cruel act, Kutoyis rose from his hiding-place behind 
the dead buffalo and fired all his arrows at the young 
man, whom he slew. He afterward gave food in 
plenty to the old man and his wife, and bade them, 
return to their home. They were delighted to find 
214 



KUTOYIS ON HIS TRAVELS 

themselves once more free from persecution, but their 
daughter wept so much that finally Kutoyis asked her 
whether she would have another husband or whether 
she wished to follow her first spouse to the Land of 
Shadows, as she must do if she persisted in lamenting 
him. 

The lady chose the former alternative as the lesser 
evil, and Kutoyis found her an excellent husband, with 
whom she lived happily for a long time. 

Kutoyis on his Travels 

At length Kutoyis tired of his monotonous life, and 
desired to see more of the world. So his host directed 
him to a distant village, where he was welcomed by two 
old women. They set before their handsome guest the 
best fare at their disposal, which was buffalo-meat of a 
rather unattractive appearance. 

" Is there no good meat ^ " queried Kutoyis. 

The old women explained that one of the lodges 
was occupied by a fierce bear, who seized upon all the 
good meat and left only the dry, poor sort for his 
neighbours. Without hesitation Kutoyis went out 
and killed a buffalo calf, which he presented to the 
women, desiring them to place the best parts of the 
meat in a prominent position outside the lodge, where 
the big bear could not fail to see it. 

This they did, and sure enough one of the bear-cubs 
shortly passed by and seized the meat. Kutoyis, who 
had been lying in wait, rushed out and hit the animal 
as hard as he could. The cub carried his tale of woe 
to his father, and the big bear, growling threats of 
vengeance, gathered his whole family round him and 
rushed to the lodge of the old women, intending to 
kill the bold hunter. 

However, Kutoyis was more than a match for all of 

215 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

them, and very soon the bears were slain. Still he 
was unsatisfied, and longed for further adventures. 

" Tell me," said he, " where shall I find another 
village ? " 

The "Wrestling "Woman 

" There is a village by the Big River," said the old 
women, " but you must not go there, for a wicked 
woman dwells in it who wrestles with and slays all 
who approach." 

No sooner did Kutoyis hear this than he determined 
to seek the village, for his mission was to destroy evil 
beings who were a danger to his fellow-men. So in 
spite of the dissuasions of the old women he departed. 

As he had been warned, the woman came out of her 
lodge on the approach of the stranger and invited him 
to wrestle with her. 

" I cannot," said he, pretending to be frightened. 

The woman mocked and jeered at him, while he 
made various excuses, but all the time he was observing 
how the land lay. When he drew nearer he saw that 
she had covered the ground with sharp flints, over which 
she had strewn grass. At last he said : "Very well, I 
will wrestle with you." 

It was no wonder that she had killed many braves, 
for she was very strong. But Kutoyis was still stronger. 
"With all her skill she could not throw him, and at last 
she grew tired, and was herself thrown on the sharp 
flints, on which she bled to death. The people rejoiced 
greatly when they heard of her death, and Kutoyis 
was universally acclaimed as a hero. 

Kutoyis did many other high deeds before he de- 
parted to the Shadowland, and when he went he left 
sorrow in many lodges. 

216 



CHAPTER IV ; IROQUOIS MYTHS 
AND LEGENDS 

Iroquois Gods and Heroes 

THE myths of the Iroquois are of exceptional 
interest because of the portraits they present 
of several semi-historical heroes. The earliest 
substratum of the myths of this people deals with the 
adventures of their principal deity, Hi'nun,the Thunder- 
god, who, with his brother, the West Wind, finally 
overcame and exterminated the powerful race of Stone 
Giants. Coming to a later period, we find that a 
number of legends cluster round the names of the 
chiefs Atotarho and Hiawatha, who in all probability 
at one time really existed. These present a good in- 
stance of the rapidity with which myth gathers round a 
famous name. Atotarho, the mighty warrior, is now 
regarded as the wizard par excellence of the Iroquois, 
but probably this does not result from the fact that 
he was cunning and cruel, as some writers on the tribe 
appear to think, but from the circumstance that as a 
great warrior he was clothed in a garment of serpents, 
and these reptiles, besides being looked upon as powerful 
war-physic, also possessed a deep magical significance. 
The original Hiawatha (He who seeks the Wampum- 
belt) is pictured as the father of a long line of persons 
of the same name, who appear to have been important 
functionaries in the tribal government. To him was 
ascribed the honour of having established the great 
confederacy of the Iroquois, which so long rendered 
them formidable opponents to the tribes which sur- 
rounded them. Like many other heroes in myth — 
the Celtic Mananan, for example — Hiawatha possessed 
a magic canoe which would obey his slightest behest, 
and in which he finally quitted the terrestrial sphere 

217 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

for that shadowy region to which all heroes finally take 
their departure. 

Hi*nun 

Many interesting myths are related of the manner in 
which Hi'nun destroyed the monsters and giants which 
infested the early world. A hunter, caught in a heavy 
thunder-shower, took refuge in the woods. Crouch- 
ing under the shelter of a great tree, he became aware 
of a mysterious voice which urged him to follow it. 
He was conscious of a sensation of slowly rising from 
the earth, and he soon found himself gazing downward 
from a point near the clouds, the height of many trees 
from the ground. He was surrounded by beings who 
had all the appearance of men, with one among them 
who seemed to be their chief. They asked him to cast 
his eyes toward the earth and tell them whether he 
could see a huge water-serpent. Unable to descry 
such a monster, the chief anointed his eyes with a 
sacred ointment, which gave him supernatural sight 
and permitted him to behold a dragon-like shape in 
the watery depths far below him. The chief com- 
manded one of his warriors to dispatch the monster, 
but arrow after arrow failed to transfix it, whereupon 
the hunter was requested to display his skill as an 
archer. Drawing his bow, he took careful aim. The 
arrow whizzed down the depths and was speedily 
lost to sight, but a terrible commotion arose in the 
lake below, the body of the great serpent leaping from 
the blood-stained water with dreadful writhings and 
contortions. So appalling was the din that rose up 
to them that even the heavenly beings by whom the 
hunter was surrounded fell into a great trembling ; 
but gradually the tempest of sound subsided, and the 
huge bulk of the mortally wounded serpent sank back 
218 



THE THUNDERERS 

into the lake, the surface of which became gradually- 
more still, until finally all was peace once more. The 
chief thanked the hunter for the service he had rendered, 
and he was conducted back to earth. Thus was man 
first brought into contact with the beneficent Hi'nun, 
and thus did he learn the existence of a power which 
would protect him from forces unfriendly to humanity. 

The Thunderers 

Once in early Iroquois days three braves set out 
upon an expedition. After they had journeyed for 
some time a misfortune occurred, one of their number 
breaking his leg. The others fashioned a litter with 
the object of carrying him back to his home, as Indian 
custom exacted. Retracing their steps, they came to a 
range of high mountains, the steep slopes of which 
taxed their strength to the utmost. To rest them- 
selves they placed the disabled man on the ground and 
withdrew to a little distance. 

" Why should we be thus burdened with a wounded 
man V said one to the other. 

"You speak truly," was the rejoinder. "Why 
should we, indeed, since his hurt has come upon him 
by reason of his own carelessness ? " 

As they spoke their eyes met in a meaning glance, 
and one of them pointed to a deep hole or pit opening 
in the side of the mountain at a little distance from the 
place where they were sitting. Returning to the injured 
man, they raised him as if about to proceed on the 
journey, and when passing the brink of the pit suddenly 
hurled him into it with great force. Then without 
loss of time they set their faces homeward. When they 
arrived in camp they reported that their comrade had 
died of wounds received in fight, but that he had not 
fallen into the enemy's hands, having received careful 

219 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
attention from them in his dying moments and honour- 
able burial. The unfortunate man's aged mother was 
prostrate with grief at the sad news, but was somewhat 
relieved to think that her son had been kindly ministered 
to at the end. 

When the brave who had been thrown into the pit 
regained his senses after the severe fall he had sustained 
he perceived a man of venerable aspect bending over 
him solicitously. When this person saw that the 
young man had regained consciousness he asked him 
what had been the intention of his comrades in so 
cruelly casting him into that abyss. The young man 
replied that his fellows had become tired of carry- 
ing him and had thus rid themselves of him. The 
old hermit — for so he seemed to be — made a hasty 
examination of the Indian's injuries, and announced 
that he would speedily cure him, on one condition. 
The other pledged his word to accept this, whatever 
it might be, whereupon the recluse told him that all he 
required was that he should hunt for him and bring 
home to him such game as he should slay. To this the 
brave gave a ready assent. The old man lost no time 
in performing his part of the bargain. He applied 
herbs to his injuries and assiduously tended his guest, 
who made a speedy and satisfactory recovery. The 
grateful warrior, once more enabled to follow the 
chase, brought home many trophies of his skill as a 
hunter to the cave on the mountain-side, and soon the 
pair had formed a strong attachment. One day, when 
in the forest, the warrior encountered an enormous 
bear, which he succeeded in slaying after a desperate 
struggle. As he was pondering how best he could 
remove it to the cave he became aware of a murmur of 
voices behind him, and glancing round he saw three 
men, or beings in the shape of men, clad in strange 
220 




" He suddenl}- assumed the shape of a gigantic porcupine ' ' 220 



THE THUNDERERS 

diaphanous garments, standing near. In reply to his 
question as to what brought them there, they told him 
that they were the Thunderers, or people of Hi'nun, 
whose mission it was to keep the earth in good order 
for the benefit of humanity, and to slay or destroy 
every agency inimical to mankind. They told him that 
the old man with whom he had been residing was by no 
means the sort of person he seemed to think, and that 
they had come to earth with the express intention of 
compassing his destruction. In this they requested his 
assistance, and promised him that if he would vouchsafe 
it he would speedily be transported back to his mother's 
lodge. Overjoyed at this proposal, the hunter did not 
scruple to return to the cave and tell the hermit that 
he had killed the bear, which he wished his help in 
bringing home. The old man seemed very uneasy, 
and begged him to examine the sky and tell him 
whether he perceived the least sign of clouds. The 
young brave reassured him and told him that not a 
cloud was to be seen, whereupon, emerging from his 
shelter, he made for the spot where the bear was 
lying. Hastily picking up the carcass, he requested 
his companion to place it all on his shoulders, which 
the young man did, expressing surprise at his great 
strength. He had proceeded with his burden for some 
distance when a terrific clap of thunder burst from the 
menacing black clouds which had speedily gathered 
overhead. In great terror the old man threw down his 
load and commenced to run with an agility which belied 
his years, but when a second peal broke forth he 
suddenly assumed the shape of a gigantic porcupine, 
jwhich dashed through the undergrowth, discharging 
'its quills like arrows as it ran. A veritable hail of 
thunderbolts now crashed down upon the creature's 
spiny back. As it reached the entrance to the cave 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

one larger than the rest struck it with such tremendous 
force that it rolled dead into its den. 

Then the Thunderers swooped down from the sky 
in triumph, mightily pleased at the death of their 
victim. The young hunter now requested them to 
discharge the promise they had made him to transport 
him back to his mother's lodge ; so, having fastened 
cloud-wings on his shoulders, they speedily brought 
him thither, carrying him carefully through the air and 
depositing him just outside the hut. The widow was 
delighted to see her son, whom she had believed to be 
long dead, and the Thunderers were so pleased with 
the assistance he had lent them that they asked him to 
accompany them in their monster-destroying mission 
every spring. He assented, and on one of these expe- 
ditions flew earthward to drink from a certain pool. 
When he rejoined his companions they observed that 
the water with which his lips were moist had caused 
them to shine as if smeared with oil. At their request 
he indicated the pool from which he had drunk, and 
they informed him that in its depths there dwelt a 
monster for which they had searched for years. With 
that they hurled a great thunderbolt into the pool, 
which immediately dried up, revealing an immense 
grub of the species which destroys the standing crops. 
The monster was, indeed, the King of Grubs, and his 
death set back the conspiracies of his kind for many 
generations. The youth subsequently returned to 
earth, and having narrated to the members of his tribe 
the services which Hi'nun had performed on their 
behalf, they considered it fitting to institute a special 
worship of the deity, and, in fact, to make him supreme 
god of their nation. Even to-day many Iroquois allude 
to Hi'nun as their grandfather, and evince extraordinary 
veneration at the mention of his name. 



HIAWATHA 
Hiawatha 

Much confusion exists with regard to the true status 
of the reputed Iroquois hero Hiawatha. We find him 
variously represented as a historical personage and a 
mythical demi-god, and as belonging to both the 
Iroquois and the Algonquins. In solid history and in 
the wildest myth he is a figure of equal importance. 
This confusion is largely due to the popularity of 
Longfellow's poem Hiawatha, which by its very excel- 
lence has given the greater prominence to the fallacies 
it contains. The fact is that Longfellow, following 
in the path of Schoolcraft, has really confused two 
personages in the character of Hiawatha, one the 
entirely mythical Manabozho, or Michabo — which 
name he at first intended to bestow on his poem — 
and the other the almost wholly historical Hiawatha. 
Manabozho, according to tradition, was a demi-god 
of the Ojibways, and to him, and not to Hiawatha, 
must be credited the exploits described in the poem. 
There is no doubt that myths have grown up round 
the name of the Iroquois hero, for myth is the ivy that 
binds all historical ruins and makes them picturesque 
to the eye ; but it has been proved that there is a 
solid structure of fact behind the legendary stories of 
Hiawatha, and even the period of his activity has been 
fixed with tolerable accuracy by modern American 
historians. 

Hiawatha, or Hai-en-Wat-ha, was a chief of Iro- 
quois stock, belonging either to the Onondaga or the 
Mohawk tribe. His most important feat was the 
union of the Five Nations of the Iroquois into a Grand 
League, an event which was of more than national 
significance, since it so largely affected the fortunes of 
European peoples when they afterward fought for 
American supremacy. As the Five Nations are known 

223 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

to have come together in the sixteenth century, it 
follows that Hiawatha must have lived and worked 
about that time. In later days the League was called 
the Six Nations, and still more recently the Seven 
Nations. 

When the Iroquois, or *Long House People,' were 
found by the French and Dutch they occupied the 
western part of what is now New York State, and were 
at a much more advanced stage of culture than most of 
the Indian tribes. They tilled the ground, cultivating 
maize and tobacco, and were skilled in the arts of war 
and diplomacy. They were greatly strengthened by 
the Grand League, or * Kayanerenh Kowa,' which, as 
has been said, was founded by the chief Hiawatha, and 
were much the most important of the North American 
tribes. 

If we look to tradition for an account of the origin 
of the Grand League, we learn that the union was 
effected by Hiawatha in the fourteenth century. The 
Hurons and Iroquois, we are told, were at one time one 
people, but later they separated, the Hurons going to 
the lake which is named after them, and the Iroquois 
to New York, where their five tribes were united under 
a General Council. But tradition is quite evidently 
wrong in assigning so early a date to this important 
event, for one of the two branches of the Iroquois 
family (that which comprises the Mohawks and the 
Oneidas) has left but few traces of an early occupation, 
and these, in the shape of some old town-sites, are 
judged to belong to the latter part of the sixteenth 
century. 

The early connexion between the Iroquois and the 
Hurons, and their subsequent separation, remains 
undisputed. The Iroquois family was divided into 
two branches, the Sinnekes (Onondagas, Cayugas, and 
224 



HIAWATHA 

Senecas) and the Caniengas (Mohawks and Oneidas), 
of which the subdivisions composed the Five Nations. 
The Sinnekes had established themselves in the western 
portion of New York, and the Caniengas at Hochelaga 
(Montreal) and elsewhere on the St. Lawrence, where 
they lived amicably enough with their Algonquin neigh- 
bours. But in 1560 a quarrel arose between the 
Caniengas and the Algonquins, in which the latter 
called in the aid of the Hurons. This was the begin- 
ning of a long war, in which the ; Caniengas had the 
worst of it. Gradually the Caniengas were driven 
along the shores of Lake Champlain and Lake George 
till they reached the valley of the Mohawk River, where 
they established themselves in a country bordering on 
that of the Onondagas. 

Now the Onondagas were a formidable tribe, fierce 
and warlike, and the Caniengas, being long accustomed 
to war, were not the most peaceable of nations, and 
ere long there was trouble between them, while both 
were at war with the Hurons. At the head of the 
Onondagas was the great chief Atotarho, whose san- 
guinary exploits and crafty stratagems had become 
the dread of the neighbouring peoples, and among his 
warriors was the generous Hiawatha. Hiawatha was filled 
with horror at the sight of the suffering caused by 
Atotarho's expeditions, and already his statesman's 
mind was forming projects of peace. He saw that in 
confederation lay the means not only of preserving 
peace among his people, but of withstanding alien 
foes as well. In two consecutive years he called an 
assembly to consider his plan, but on each occasion the 
grim presence of Atotarho made discussion impos- 
sible. Hiawatha in despair fled from the land of the 
Onondagas, journeyed eastward through the country 
of the Oneidas, and at last took up his residence 

22$ 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

among the Mohawks, into which tribe he was adopted. 
It has been said by some authorities, and the idea does 
not lack probability, that Hiawatha was originally 
a Mohawk, and that he spent some time among the 
Onondagas, afterward returning to his own people. 
At all events, the Mohawks proved more amenable to 
reason than the Onondagas had done. Among the 
chiefs of his adopted tribe Hiawatha found one — 
Dekanewidah — who fell in with his confederation 
plans, and agreed to work along with him. Messen- 
gers were dispatched to the Oneidas, who bade them 
return in a year, at the end of which period negotia- 
tions were renewed. The result was that the Oneida 
chiefs signed a treaty inaugurating the Kayanerenh 
Kowa. An embassy to the Onondagas was "fruitless, 
as Atotarho persistently obstructed the new scheme ; 
but later, when the Kayanerenh Kowa embraced the 
Cayugas, messages were once more sent to the power- 
ful Onondagas, diplomatically suggesting that Atotarho 
should take the lead in the Grand Council. The grim 
warrior was mollified by this sop to his vanity, and 
condescended to accept the proposal. Not only that, 
but he soon became an enthusiastic worker in the 
cause of confederation, and secured the inclusion of the 
Senecas in the League. 

The confederacy of the Five Nations was now com- 
plete, and the * Silver Chain,' as their Grand Council 
was called, met together on the shores of the Salt 
Lake. The number of chiefs chosen from each tribe 
bore some relation to its numerical status, the largest 
number, fourteen, being supplied by the Onondagas. 
The office of representative in the Council was to be an 
hereditary one, descending in the female line, as with 
the Picts of Scotland and other primitive peoples, and 
never from father to son. 
226 



HIAWATHA 

So powerful did the League become that the name 
of ' Long House People ' was held in the greatest awe. 
They annihilated their ancient enemies, the Hurons, 
and they attacked and subdued the Micmacs, Mohi- 
cans, Pawnees, Algonquins, Cherokees, and many 
other tribes. The effect of the League on British 
history is incalculable. When the Frenchman Champ- 
lain arrived in 1611 he interfered on behalf of the 
Hurons, an action whose far-reaching consequences he 
could not foresee, but from that period dated the 
hatred of the Iroquois for the French which ensured 
Britain's success in the long struggle between the 
European nations in America. Without the assistance 
of the native factor, who shall say how the struggle 
might have ended ? 

But the Iroquois were not altogether a bloodthirsty 
people. A strong bond of brotherhood existed between 
the Five Nations, among themselves they were kind and 
gentle, and in part at least Hiawatha's dream of peace 
was realized. It is not, of course, very easy to say how 
far Hiawatha intended the scheme of universal brother- 
hood with which he is credited. Whether he conceived 
a Grand League embracing all the nations of the earth 
or whether his full ambition was realized in the union 
of the Five Nations is a point which history does not 
make clear. But even in the more limited sense his work 
was a great one, and the lofty and noble character 
which Longfellow has given to his hero seems not 
unsuited to the actual Hiawatha, who realizes the ideal 
of the ' noble savage ' more fully, perhaps, than any 
one else in the annals of primitive peoples. 

As in the case of King Arthur and Dietrich of 
Berne, many myths soon gathered round the popular 
and revered name of Hiawatha. Among barbarians 
three, or even two, generations usually suffice to render 

227 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

a great and outstanding figure mythical. But one pre- 
fers to think of this Iroquois statesman as a real man, a 
bright particular star in a dark sky of savagery and 
ignorance. 

The Stone Giants 

The Iroquois believed that in early days there existed 
a malignant race of giants whose bodies were fashioned 
out of stone. It is difficult to say how the idea of 
such beings arose, but it is possible that the generally 
distributed conception of a gigantic race springing from 
Mother Earth was in this instance fused with another 
belief that stones and rocks composed the earth's bony 
framework. We find an example of this belief in the 
beautiful old Greek myth of Deucalion and Pyrrha, 
which much resembles that of Noah. When after the 
great flood which submerged Hellas the survivors' ship 
grounded upon Mount Parnassus they inquired of the 
oracle of Themis in what manner the human race might 
be restored. They were bidden by the oracle to veil 
themselves and to throw the bones of their mother 
behind them. These they interpreted to mean the 
stones of the earth. Picking up loose pieces of stone, 
they cast them over their shoulders, and from those 
thrown by Deucalion there sprang men, while those 
cast by Pyrrha became women. 

These Stone Giants of the Iroquois, dwelling in the 
far west, took counsel with one another and resolved to 
invade the Indian territory and exterminate the race of 
men. A party of Indians just starting on the war-path 
were apprised of the invasion, and were bidden by the 
gods to challenge the giants to combat. This they did, 
and the opposing bands faced each other at a spot near 
a great gulf. But as the monsters advanced upon their 
human enemies the god of the west wind, who was 
228 



WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT 

lying in wait for them, swooped down upon the Titans, 
so that they were hurled over the edge of the gulf, far 
down into the dark abyss below, where they perished 
miserably. 

The Pigmies 

In contradistinction to their belief in giants, the 
Iroquois imagined the existence of a race of pigmies, 
who had many of the attributes of the Teutonic 
gnomes. They were responsible for the beauty of 
terrestrial scenery, which they carved and sculptured in 
cliff, scar, and rock, and, like the thunder-gods, they 
protected the human race against the many monsters 
which infested the world in early times. 

Witches and Witchcraft 

The Iroquois belief in witchcraft was very strong, 
and the following tale is supposed to account for the 
origin of witches and sorcery. A boy who was out 
hunting found a snake the colours of whose skin were 
so intensely beautiful that he resolved to capture it. 
He caught it and tended it carefully, feeding it on 
birds and small game, and housing it in a little bowl 
made of bark, which he filled with water. In the 
bottom of the bowl he placed down, small feathers, 
and wood fibre, and on going to feed the snake he 
discovered that these things had become living beings. 
From this he gathered that the reptile was endowed 
with supernatural powers, and he found that other 
articles placed in the water along with it soon showed 
signs of life. He procured more snakes and placed 
them in the bowl. Observing some men of the tribe 
rubbing ointment on their eyes to enable them to see 
more clearly, he used some of the water from the bowl 
in which the snakes were immersed upon his own, and 

Q ?29 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

lo ! he found on climbing a tall tree that nothing was 
hidden from his sight, which pierced all intervening 
obstacles. He could see far into the earth, where lay- 
hidden precious stones and rich minerals. His sight 
pierced the trunks of trees ; he could see through 
mountains, and could discern objects lying deep down 
in the bed of a river. 

He concluded that the greater the number of reptiles 
the snake-liquid contained the more potent would it 
become. Accordingly he captured several snakes, and 
suspended them over his bowl in such a manner that 
the essential oil they contained dropped into the water, 
with the result that the activity of the beings which had 
been so strangely bred in it was increased. In course 
of time he found that by merely placing one of his 
fingers in the liquid and pointing it at any person he 
could instantly bewitch him. He added some roots 
to the water in the bowl, some of which he then 
drank. By blowing this from his mouth a great light 
was produced, by rubbing his eyes with it he could see 
in the dark, and by other applications of it he could 
render himself invisible, or take the shape of a snake. 
If he dipped an arrow into the liquid and discharged it 
at any living being it would kill it although it might 
not strike it. Not content with discovering this magic 
fluid, the youth resolved to search for antidotes to it, 
and these he collected. 

A * Medicine* Legend 

A similar legend is told by the Senecas to account 
for the origin of their * medicine.' Nearly two hundred 
years ago — in the savage estimation this is a very great 
period of time — an Indian went into the woods on 
a hunting expedition. One night while asleep in his 
solitary camp he was awakened by a great noise of 
230 



A MEDICINE LEGEND 

singing and drum-beating, such as is heard at festivals. 
Starting up, he made his way to the place whence the 
sounds came, and although he could not see any one 
there he observed a heap of corn and a large squash 
vine with three squashes on it, and three ears of corn 
which lay apart from the rest. Feeling very uneasy, 
he once more pursued his hunting operations, and when 
night came again laid himself down to rest. But his 
sleep was destined to be broken yet a second time, and 
awaking he perceived a man bending over him, who 
said in menacing tones : 

" Beware : what you saw was sacred. You deserve to 
die." 

A rustling among the branches denoted the presence 
of a number of people, who, after some hesitation, 
gathered round the hunter, and informed him that 
they would pardon his curiosity and would tell him 
their secret. "The great medicine for wounds," said 
the man who had first awakened him, " is squash and 
corn. Come with me and I will teach you how to 
make and apply it." 

With these words he led the hunter to the spot at 
which he had surprised the * medicine '-making opera- 
tions on the previous night, where he beheld a great fire 
and a strange-looking laurel-bush, which seemed as if 
made of iron. Chanting a weird song, the people circled 
slowly round the bush to the accompaniment of a 
rattling of gourd-shells. On the hunter's asking them 
to explain this procedure, one of them heated a stick 
and thrust it right through his cheek. He immediately 
applied some of the ' medicine ' to the wound, so that 
it healed instantly. Having thus demonstrated the 
power of the drug, they sang a tune which they called 
the ' medicine-song,' which their pupil learnt by heart. 

The hunter then turned to depart, and all at once he 

231 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

saw that the beings who surrounded him were not 
human, as he had thought, but animals — foxes, bears, 
and beavers — who fled as he looked at them. Surprised 
and even terrified at the turn matters had taken, he 
made his way homeward with all speed, conning over 
the prescription which the strange beings had g-.ven him 
the while. They had told him to take one stalk of 
corn, to dry the cob and pound it very fine, then to 
take one squash, cut it up and pound it, and to mix the 
whole with water from a running stream, near its source. 
This prescription he used with very great success among 
his people, and it proved the origin of the great 
* medicine ' of the Senecas. Once a year at the season 
when the deer changes his coat they prepare it as the 
forest folk did, singing the weird song and dancing 
round it to the rhythmic accompaniment of the gourd- 
shell rattles, while they burn tobacco to the gods. 

Great Head and the Ten Brothers 

It was commonly believed among the Iroquois 
Indians that there existed a curious and malevolent 
being whom they called Great Head. This odd 
creature was merely an enormous head poised on 
slender legs. He made his dwelling on a rugged rock, 
and directly he saw any living person approach he 
would growl fiercely in true ogre fashion : " I see thee, 
I see thee ! Thou shalt die." 

Far away in a remote spot an orphaned family of 
ten boys lived with their uncle. The older brothers 
went out every day to hunt, but the younger ones, not 
yet fitted for so rigorous a life, remained at home with 
their uncle, or at least did not venture much beyond 
the immediate vicinity of their lodge. One day the 
hunters did not return at their usual hour. As the 
evening passed without bringing any sign of the missing 
232 




" ' I see thee, I see thee ! Thou shalt die ' " 232 



GREAT HEAD AND THE TEN BROTHERS 

youths the little band at home became alarmed. At 
length the eldest of the boys left in the lodge volun- 
teered to go in search of his brothers. His uncle 
consented, and he set off, but he did not return. 

In the morning another brother said : " I will go to 
seek my brothers." Having obtained permission, he 
went, but he also did not come back. Another and 
another took upon himself the task of finding the lost 
hunters, but of the searchers as well as of those sought 
for there was no news forthcoming. At length only 
the youngest of the lads remained at home, and to his 
entreaties to be allowed to seek for his brothers the 
uncle turned a deaf ear, for he feared to lose the last of 
his young nephews. 

(Dne day when uncle and nephew were out in the forest 
the latter fancied he heard a deep groan, which seemed to 
proceed from the earth exactly under his feet. They 
stopped to listen. The sound was repeated — unmistak- 
ably a human groan. Hastily they began digging in the 
earth, and in a moment or two came upon a man covered 
with mould and apparently unconscious. 

The pair carried the unfortunate one to their lodge, 
where they rubbed him with bear's oil till he recovered 
consciousness. When he was able to speak he could 
give no explanation of how he came to be buried 
alive. He had been out hunting, he said, when 
suddenly his mind became a blank, and he remembered 
nothing more till he found himself in the lodge with 
the old man and the boy. His hosts begged the 
stranger to stay with them, and they soon discovered 
that he was no ordinary mortal, but a powerful 
magician. At times he behaved very strangely. One 
night, while a great storm raged without, he tossed 
restlessly on his couch instead of going to sleep. At 
last he sought the old uncle. 

233 



MYTHS 0F:THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

" Do you hear that noise ? " he said. " That is my 
brother, Great Head, who is riding on the wind. Do 
you not hear him howling.''" 

The old man considered this astounding speech for 
a moment ; then he asked : " Would he come here if 
you sent for him } " 

" No," said the other, thoughtfully, " but we might 
bring him here by magic. Should he come you must 
have food ready for him, in the shape of huge blocks 
of maple-wood, for that is what he lives on." 

The stranger departed in search of his brother Great 
Head, taking with him his bow, and on the way he 
came across a hickory-tree, whose roots provided him 
with arrows. About midday he drew near to the 
dwelling of his brother. Great Head. In order to see 
without being seen, he changed himself into a mole, 
and crept through the grass till he saw Great Head 
perched on a rock, frowning fiercely. " I see thee ! " he 
growled, with his wild eyes fixed on an owl. The 
man-mole drew his bow and shot an arrow at Great 
Head. The arrow became larger and larger as it flew 
toward the monster, but it returned to him who had 
fired it, and as it did so it regained its natural size. 
The man seized it and rushed back the way he had 
come. Very soon he heard Great Head in pursuit, 
puffing and snorting along on the wings of a hurricane. 
When the creature had almost overtaken him he turned 
and discharged another arrow. Again and again he 
repulsed his pursuer in this fashion, till he lured him 
to the lodge where his benefactors lived. When Great 
Head burst into the house the uncle and nephew began 
to hammer him vigorously with mallets. To their 
surprise the monster broke into laughter, for he had 
recognized his brother and was very pleased to see him. 
He ate the maple-blocks they brought him with a 
234 



GREAT HEAD AND THE TEN BROTHERS 

hearty appetite, whereupon they told him the story of 
the missing hunters. 

" I know what has become of them," said Great 
Head. " They have fallen into the hands of a witch. 
If this young man," indicating the nephew, "will 
accompany me, I will show him her dwelling, and the 
bones of his brothers." 

The youth, who loved adventure, and was besides 
very anxious to learn the fate of his brothers, at once 
consented to seek the home of the witch. So he and 
Great Head started off, and lost no time in getting to 
the place. They found the space in front of the lodge 
strewn with dry bones, and the witch sitting in the 
doorway singing. When she saw them she muttered 
the magic word which turned living people into dry 
bones, but on Great Head and his companion it had 
no effect whatever. Acting on a prearranged signal. 
Great Head and the youth attacked the witch and 
killed her. No sooner had she expired than her flesh 
turned into birds and beasts and fishes. What was 
left of her they burned to ashes. 

Their next act was to select the bones of the nine 
brothers from among the heap, and this they found no 
easy task. But at last it was accomplished, and Great 
Head said to his companion : " I am going home to 
my rock. When I pass overhead in a great storm I 
will bid these bones arise, and they will get up and 
return with you." 

The youth stood alone for a little while till he heard 
the sound of a fierce tempest. Out of the hurricane 
Great Head called to the brothers to arise. In a 
moment they were all on their feet, receiving the 
congratulations of their younger brother and each 
other, and filled with joy at their reunion. 

235 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Seneca*s Revenge 

A striking story is told of a Seneca youth who for 
many years and through a wearisome captivity nourished 
the hope of vengeance so dear to the Indian soul. A 
certain tribe of the Senecas had settled on the shores 
of Lake Erie, when they were surprised by their ancient 
enemies the Illinois, and in spite of a stout resistance 
many of them were slain, and a woman and a boy 
taken prisoner. When the victors halted for the night 
they built a great fire, and proceeded to celebrate their 
success by singing triumphant songs, in which they 
commanded the boy to join them. The lad pretended 
that he did not know their language, but said that he 
would sing their song in his own tongue, to which 
they assented; but instead of a paean in their praise 
he sang a song of vengeance, in which he vowed that 
if he were spared all of them would lose their scalps. 
A few days afterward the woman became so exhausted 
that she could walk no farther, so the Illinois slew her. 
But before she died she extracted a promise from the 
boy that he would avenge her, and would never cease 
to be a Seneca. 

In a few days they arrived at the Illinois camp, 
where a council was held to consider the fate of the 
captive lad. Some were for instantly putting him to 
death, but their chief ruled that should he be able to 
live through their tortures he would be worthy of 
becoming an Illinois. They seized the wretched lad 
and held his bare feet to the glowing council-fire, then 
after piercing them they told him to run a race. He 
bounded forward, and ran so swiftly that he soon 
gained the Great House of the tribe, where he seated 
himself upon a wild-cat skin. 

Another council was held, and the Illinois braves 
236 



THE SENECA'S REVENGE 

agreed that the lad possessed high courage and would 
make a great warrior ; but others argued that he knew 
their war-path and might betray them, and it was finally- 
decided that he should be burnt at the stake. As he 
was about to perish in this manner an aged warrior 
suggested that if he were able to withstand their last 
torture he should be permitted to live. Accordingly 
he held the unfortunate lad under water in a pool until 
only a spark of life remained in him, but he survived, 
and became an Illinois warrior. 

Years passed, and the boy reached manhood and 
married a chief's daughter. His strength and endurance 
became proverbial, but the warriors of the tribe of his 
adoption would never permit him to take part in their 
warlike expeditions. At length a raid against the Senecas 
was mooted, and he begged so hard to be allowed to 
accompany the braves that at last they consented. 
Indeed, so great was their admiration of the skill with 
which he outlined a plan of campaign that they made 
him chief of the expedition. For many days the party 
marched toward the Seneca country ; but when at last 
they neared it their scouts reported that there were no 
signs of the tribe, and that the Senecas must have quitted 
their territory. Their leader, however, proposed to go in 
search of the enemy himself, along with another warrior 
of the tribe, and this was agreed to. 

When the pair had gone five or six miles the leader 
said to his companion that it would be better if they 
separated, as they would then be able to cover more 
ground. Passing on to where he knew he would find 
the Senecas, he warned them of their danger, and 
arranged that an ambush of his kinsfolk should lie in 
wait for the Illinois. 

Returning to the Illinois camp, he reported that he 
had seen nothing, but that he well remembered the 

237 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Seneca hiding-place. He asked to be given the bravest 
warriors, and assured the council that he would soon 
bring them the scalps of their foes. Suspecting nothing, 
they assented to his proposal, and he was followed by 
the flower of the Illinois tribe, all unaware that five 
hundred Senecas awaited them in the valley. The 
youth led his men right into the heart of the ambush ; 
then, pretending to miss his footing, he fell. This 
was the signal for the Senecas to rise on every side. 
Yelling their war-cry, they rushed from their shelter 
and fell on the dismayed Illinois, who gave way on 
every side. The slaughter was immense. Vengeance 
nerved the arms of the Seneca braves, and of three 
hundred Illinois but two escaped. The leader of the 
expedition was borne in triumph to the Seneca village, 
where to listening hundreds he told the story of his 
capture and long-meditated revenge. He became a 
great chief among his people, and even to this day his 
name is uttered by them with honour and reverence. 

The Boy Magician 

In the heart of the wilderness there lived an old 
woman and her little grandson. The two found no 
lack of occupation from day to day, the woman busying 
herself with cooking and cleaning and the boy with 
shooting and hunting. The grandmother frequently 
spoke of the time when the child would grow up and 
go out into the world. 

"Always go to the east," she would say. " Never 
go to the west, for there lies danger." 

But what the danger was she would not tell him, 
in spite of his importunate questioning. Other boys 
went west, he thought to himself, and why should not 
he ? Nevertheless his grandmother made him promise 
that he would not go west. 
238 



THE BOY MAGICIAN 

Years passed by, and the child grew to be a man, 
though he still retained the curiosity and high spirits 
of his boyhood. His persistent inquiries drew from 
the old grandmother a reluctant explanation of her 
warning. 

, " In the west," said she, "there dwells a being who 
is anxious to do us harm. If he sees you it will mean 
death for both of us." 

This statement, instead of frightening the young 
Indian, only strengthened in him a secret resolution he 
had formed to go west on the first opportunity. Not 
that he wished to bring any misfortune on his poor 
old grandmother, any more than on himself, but he 
trusted to his strong arm and clear head to deliver 
them from their enemy. So with a laugh on his lips 
he set off to the west. 

Toward evening he came to a lake, where he rested. 
He had not been there long when he heard a voice 
saying : " Aha, my fine fellow, I see you ! " 

The youth looked all round him, and up into the 
sky above, but he saw no one. 

" I am going to send a hurricane," the mysterious 
voice continued, " to break your grandmother's hut to 
pieces. How will you like that ? " 

" Oh, very well," answered the young man gaily. 
" We are always in need of firewood, and now we shall 
have plenty." 

"Go home and see," the voice said mockingly. 
" I daresay you will not like it so well." 

Nothing daunted, the young adventurer retraced 
his steps. As he neared home a great wind sprang up, 
seeming to tear the very trees out by the roots. 

" Make haste ! " cried the grandmother from the 
doorway. " We shall both be killed ! " 

When she had drawn him inside and shut the door 

239 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

she scolded him heartily for his disobedience, and be- 
wailed the fate before them. The young man soothed 
her fears, saying: "Don't cry, grandmother. We 
shall turn the lodge into a rock, and so we shall be 
saved." 

Having some skill in magic, he did as he had said, 
and the hurricane passed harmlessly over their heads. 
When it had ceased they emerged from their retreat, 
and found an abundance of firewood all round them. 

The Hailstorm 

Next day the youth was on the point of setting off 
toward the west once more, but the urgent entreaties 
of his grandmother moved him to proceed eastward — 
for a time. Directly he was out of sight of the lodge 
he turned his face once more to the west. Arrived at 
the lake, he heard the voice once more, though its 
owner was still invisible. 

" I am going to send a great hailstorm on your 
grandmother's hut," it said. " What do you think of 
that ? " 

" Oh," was the response, " I think I should like it. 
I have always wanted a bundle of spears." 

"Go home and see," said the voice. 

Away the youth went through the woods. The sky 
became darker and darker as he neared his home, and 
just as he was within a bowshot of the little hut a 
fierce hailstorm broke, and he thought he would be 
killed before he reached shelter. 

"Alas !" cried the old woman when he was safely 
indoors, " we shall be destroyed this time. How can 
we save ourselves } " 

Again the young man exercised his magic powers, 
and transformed the frail hut into a hollow rock, upon 
which the shafts of the hailstorm spent themselves in 
240 





" ' Aha ! uncle, I see you ! ' " 



240 



THE CHARMED STONE 

vain. At last the sky cleared, the lodge resumed its 
former shape, and the young man saw a multitude of 
sharp, beautiful spear-heads on the ground. 

" I will get poles," said he, " to fit to them for 
fishing." 

When he returned in a few minutes with the poles 
he found that the spears had vanished. 

"Where are my beautiful spears.''" he asked his 
grandmother. 

"They were only ice-spears," she replied. "They 
have all melted away." 

The young Indian was greatly disappointed, and 
wondered how he could avenge himself on the being 
who had played him this malicious trick. 

" Be warned in time," said the aged grandmother, 
shaking her head at him. " Take my advice and leave 
him alone." 

The Charmed Stone 

But the youth's adventurous spirit impelled him to 
see the end of the matter, so he took a stone and tied 
it round his neck for a charm, and sought the lake 
once again. Carefully observing the direction from 
which the voice proceeded, he saw in the middle of the 
lake a huge head with a face on every side of it. 

" Aha ! uncle," he exclaimed, " I see you ! How 
would you like it if the lake dried up .'' " 

" Nonsense ! " said the voice angrily, " that will 
never happen." 

" Go home and see," shouted the youth, mimicking 
the mocking tone the other had adopted on the pre- 
vious occasions. As he spoke he swung his charmed 
stone round his head and threw it into the air. As it 
descended it grew larger and larger, and the moment 

it entered the lake the water began to boil. 

241 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The lad returned home and told his grandmother 
what he had done. 

" It is of no use," said she. " Many have tried to 
slay him, but all have perished in the attempt." 

Next morning our hero went westward again, and 
found the lake quite dry, and the animals in it dead, 
with the exception of a large green frog, who was in 
reality the malicious being who had tormented the 
Indian and his grandmother. A quick blow with a 
stick put an end to the creature, and the triumphant 
youth bore the good news to his old grandmother, who 
from that time was left in peace and quietness. 

The Friendly Skeleton 

A little boy living in the woods with his old uncle was 
warned by him not to go eastward, but to play close to 
the lodge or walk toward the west. . The child felt a 
natural curiosity to know what lay in the forbidden 
direction, and one day took advantage of his uncle's 
absence on a hunting expedition to wander away to the 
east. At length he came to a large lake, on the shores of 
which he stopped to rest. Here he was accosted by a 
man, who asked him his name and where he lived. 

" Come," said the stranger, when he had finished 
questioning the boy, " let us see who can shoot an 
arrow the highest." 

This they did, and the boy's arrow went much higher 
than that of his companion. 

The stranger then suggested a swimming match. 

*' Let us see," he said, "who can swim farthest under 
water without taking a breath." 

Again the boy beat his rival, who next proposed 
that they should sail out to an island in the middle of 
the lake, to see the beautiful birds that were to be 
found there. The child consented readily, and they 
242 



THE FRIENDLY SKELETON 

embarked in a curious canoe, which was propelled by 
three swans harnessed to either side of it. Directly they 
had taken their seats the man began to sing, and the 
canoe moved off. In a very short time they had reached 
the island. Here the little Indian realized that his 
confidence in his new-found friend was misplaced. The 
stranger took all his clothes from him, put them in the 
canoe, and jumped in himself, saying : 

" Come, swans, let us go home." 

The obedient swans set off at a good pace, and 
soon left the island far behind. The boy was very 
angry at having been so badly used, but when it 
grew dark his resentment changed to fear, and he sat 
down and cried with cold and misery. Suddenly he 
heard a husky voice close at hand, and, looking round, 
he saw a skeleton on the ground. 

" I am very sorry for you," said the skeleton in 
hoarse tones. " I will do what I can to help you. 
But first you must do something for me. Go and 
dig by that tree, and you shall find a tobacco-pouch 
with some tobacco in it, a pipe, and a flint." 

The boy did as he was asked, and when he had 
filled the pipe he lit it and placed it in the mouth of 
the skeleton. He saw that the latter's body was full 
of mice, and that the smoke frightened them away. 

"There is a man coming to-night with three dogs," 
said the skeleton. " He is coming to look for you. 
You must make tracks all over the island, so that they 
may not find you, and then hide in a hollow tree." 
1 Again the boy obeyed his gaunt instructor, and when 
he was safely hidden he saw a man come ashore with 
three dogs. All night they hunted him, but he had made 
so many tracks that the dogs were confused, and at last 
the man departed in anger. Next day the trembling 
boy emerged and went to the skeleton. 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

"To-night," said the latter, "the man who brought 
you here is coming to drink your blood. You must 
dig a hole in the sand and hide. When he comes out of 
the canoe you must enter it. Say, * Come, swan: , let us 
go home,' and if the man calls you do not look back." 

The Lost Sister 

Everything fell out as the skeleton had foretold. 
The boy hid in the sand, and directly he saw his 
tormentor step ashore he jumped into the canoe, 
saying hastily, " Come, swans, let us go home." Then 
he began to sing as he had heard the man do when 
they first embarked. In vain the man called him back ; 
he refused to look round. The swans carried the 
canoe to a cave in a high rock, where the boy found 
his clothes, as well as a fire and food. When he 
had donned his garments and satisfied his hunger 
he lay down and slept. In the morning he returned 
to the island, where he found the tyrant quite dead. 
The skeleton now commanded him to sail eastward to 
seek for his sister, whom a fierce man had carried 
away. He set out eagerly on his new quest, and a 
three days' journey brought him to the place where his 
sister was. He lost no time in finding her. 

"Come, my sister," said he, "let us flee away 
together." 

" Alas ! I cannot," answered the young woman. " A 
wicked man keeps me here. It is time for him to 
return home, and he would be sure to catch us. But 
let me hide you now, and in the morning we shall go 
away." 

So she dug a pit and hid her brother, though not a 
moment too soon, for the footsteps of her husband 
were heard approaching the hut. The woman had 
cooked a child, and this she placed before the man. 
244 




" He lit the pipe and placed it in the mouth of the skeleton " 244 



THE LOST SISTER 

" You have had visitors," he said, seeing his dogs 
snuffing around uneasily. 

"No," was the reply, "I have seen no one but 
you. 

" I shall wait till to-morrow," said the man to himself. 
"Then I shall kill and eat him." He had already 
guessed that his wife had not spoken the truth. How- 
ever, he said nothing more, but waited till morning, 
when, instead of going to a distant swamp to seek for 
food, as he pretended to do, he concealed himself 
at a short distance from the hut, and at length saw 
the brother and sister making for a canoe. They were 
hardly seated when they saw him running toward them. 
In his hand he bore a large hook, with which he 
caught the frail vessel ; but the lad broke the hook 
with a stone, and the canoe darted out on to the lake. 
The man was at a loss for a moment, and could only 
shout incoherent threats after the pair. Then an idea 
occurred to him, and, lying down on the shore, he 
began to drink the water. This caused the canoe to 
rush back again, but once more the boy was equal to 
the occasion. Seizing the large stone with which he 
had broken the hook, he threw it at the man and slew 
him, the water at the same time rushing back into the 
lake. Thus the brother and sister escaped, and in 
three days they had arrived at the island, where they 
heartily thanked their benefactor, the skeleton. He, 
however, had still another task for the young Indian 
to perform. 

" Take your sister home to your uncle's lodge," said 
he ; " then return here yourself, and say to the many 
bones which you will find on the island, ' Arise,' and 
they shall come to life again." 

When the brother and sister reached their home 
they found that their old uncle had been grievously 

R H5 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

lamenting the loss of his nephew, and he was quite 
overjoyed at seeing them. On his recommendation 
they built a large lodge to accommodate the people they 
were to bring back with them. When it was completed, 
the youth revisited the island, bade the bones arise, 
and was delighted to see them obey his bidding and 
become men and women. He led them to the lodge 
he had built, where they all dwelt happily for a long 
time. 

The Pigmies 

When the Cherokees were dwelling in the swamps 
of Florida the Iroquois made a practice of swooping 
down on them and raiding their camps. On one 
occasion the raiding party was absent from home for 
close on two years. On the eve of their return one 
of their number, a chieftain, fell ill, and the rest of 
the party were at a loss to know what to do with him. 
Obviously, if they carried him home with them he 
would considerably impede their progress. Besides, 
there was the possibility that he might not recover, 
and all their labour would be to no purpose. Thus 
they debated far into the night, and finally decided to 
abandon him to his fate and return by themselves. 
The sick man, unable to stir hand or foot, overheard 
their decision, but he bore it stoically, like an Indian 
warrior. Nevertheless, when he heard the last swish 
of their paddles as they crossed the river he could not 
help thinking of the friends and kindred he would 
probably never see again. 

When the raiders reached home they were closely 
questioned as to the whereabouts of the missing chief, 
and the inquiries were all the more anxious because 
the sick man had been a great favourite among his 
people. The guilty warriors answered evasively. They 
246 



THE SALT'LICK 

did not know what had become of their comrade, 
they said. Possibly he had been lost or killed in 
Florida. 

Meanwhile the sick man lay dying on the banks of 
the river. Suddenly he heard, quite close at hand, the 
gentle sound of a canoe. The vessel drew in close to 
the bank, and, full in view of the warrior, three pigmy 
men disembarked. They regarded the stranger with 
some surprise. At length one who seemed to be 
the leader advanced and spoke to him, bidding him 
await their return, and promising to look after him. 
They were going, he said, to a certain ' salt-lick,' where 
many curious animals watered, in order to kill some 
for food. 

The Salt-Lick 

When the pigmies arrived at the place they found 
that no animals were as yet to be seen, but very soon 
a large buffalo bull came to drink. Immediately a 
buffalo cow arose from the lick, and when they had 
satisfied their thirst the two animals lay down on the 
bank. The pigmies concluded that the time was ripe 
for killing them, and, drawing their bows, they suc- 
ceeded in dispatching the buffaloes. Returning to 
the sick man, they amply fulfilled their promise to take 
care of him, skilfully tending him until he had made a 
complete recovery. They then conveyed him to his 
friends, who now learnt that the story told them by 
the raiders was false. Bitterly indignant at the decep- 
tion and heartless cruelty of these men, they fell upon 
them and punished them according to their deserts. 

Later the chief headed a band of people who were 
curious to see the lick, which they found surrounded 
by the bones of numberless large animals which had 
been killed by the pigmies. 

247 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

This story is interesting as a record of what were ' 
perhaps the last vestiges of a pigmy folk who at one 
time inhabited the eastern portion of North America, 
before the coming of the Red Man. We have already 
alluded to this people, in the pages dealing with the 
discoveries of the Norsemen in the continent. 

The Magical Serpent 

In the seventeenth century a strange legend con- 
cerning a huge serpent was found among the Hurons, I 
who probably got it from the neighbouring Algonquins. 
This monster had on its head a horn which would 
pierce anything, even the hardest rock. Any one I 
possessing a piece of it was supposed to have very 
good fortune. The Hurons did not know where the 
creature was to be found, but said that the Algonquins I i 
were in the habit of selling them small pieces of the ' 
magic horn. 

It is possible that the mercenary Shawnees had 
borrowed this myth from the Cherokees for their own , j 
purposes. At all events a similar legend existed among 
both tribes which told of a monster snake, the King 
of Rattlesnakes, who dv/elt up among the mountain- 
passes, attended by a retinue of his kind. Instead of 
a crown, he wore on his head a beautiful jewel which 
possessed magic properties. Many a brave tried to 
obtain possession of this desirable gem, but all fell 
victims to the venomous reptiles. At length a more 
ingenious warrior clothed himself entirely in leather, 
and so rendered himself impervious to their attack. 
Making his way to the haunt of the serpents, he slew 
their monster chief. Then, triumphantly taking pos- 
session of the wonderful jewel, he bore it to his tribe, 
by whom it was regarded with profound veneration and 
jealously preserved. 
248 




The pigmies concluded that the lime was ripe for kilHng 

them " 248 



THE ORIGIN OF MEDICINE 

The Origin of Medicine 

An interesting Cherokee myth is that which recounts 
the origin of disease, and the consequent institution of 
curative medicine. In the old days, we are told, the 
members of the brute creation were gifted with speech 
and dwelt in amity with the human race, but mankind 
multiplied so quickly that the animals were crowded 
into the forests and desert places of the earth, so that 
the old friendship between them was soon forgotten. 
The breach was farther widened by the invention of 
lethal weapons, by the aid of which man commenced 
the wholesale slaughter of the beasts for the sake of 
their flesh and skins. The animals, at first surprised, 
soon grew angry, and resolved upon measures of re- 
taliation. The bear tribe met in council, presided 
over by the Old White Bear, their chief. After several 
speakers had denounced mankind for their bloodthirsty 
tendencies, war was unanimously decided upon, but 
the lack of weapons was regarded as a serious drawback. 
However, it was suggested that man's instruments 
should be turned against himself, and as the bow and 
arrow were considered to be the principal human agency 
of destruction, it was resolved to fashion a specimen. 
A suitable piece of wood was procured, and one of the 
bears sacrificed himself to provide gut for a bowstring. 
When the weapon was completed it was discovered 
that the claws of the bears spoiled their shooting. One 
of the bears, however, cut his claws, and succeeded in 
hitting the mark, but the Old White Bear very wisely 
remarked that without claws they could not climb trees 
or bring down game, and that were they to cut them 
off they must all starve. 

The deer also met in council, under their chief, the 
Little Deer, when it was decided that those hunters who 

249 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

slew one of their number without asking pardon In 
a suitable manner should be afflicted with rheuma- 
tism. They gave notice of this decision to the nearest 
settlement of Indians, and instructed them how to 
make propitiation when forced by necessity to kill one 
of the deer-folk. So when a deer is slain by the 
hunter the Little Deer runs to the spot, and, bending 
over the blood-stains, asks the spirit of the deer if it 
has heard the prayer of the hunter for pardon. If the 
reply be ' Yes,' all is well, and the Little Deer departs ; 
but if the answer be in the negative, he tracks the 
hunter to his cabin, and strikes him with rheumatism, 
so that he becomes a helpless cripple. Sometimes 
hunters who have not learned the proper formula for 
pardon attempt to turn aside the Little Deer from his 
pursuit by building a fire behind them in the trail. 

The Council of the Fishes 

The fishes and reptiles then held a joint council, and 
arranged to haunt those human beings who tormented 
them with hideous dreams of serpents twining round 
them and of eating fish which had become decayed. 
These snake and fish dreams seem to be of common 
occurrence among the Cherokees, and the services of 
the shamans to banish them are in constant demand. 

Lastly, the birds and the insects, with the smaller 
animals, gathered together for a similar purpose, the 
grub-worm presiding over the meeting. Each in turn 
expressed an opinion, and the consensus was against 
mankind. They devised and named various diseases. 

When the plants, which were friendly to man, heard 
what had been arranged by the animals, they determined 
to frustrate their evil designs. Each tree, shrub, and 
herb, down even to the grasses and mosses, agreed to 
furnish a remedy for some one of the diseases named. 
250 



THE WONDERFUL KETTLE 

Thus did medicine come into being. When the shaman 
is in doubt as to what treatment to apply for the relief 
of a patient the spirit of the plant suggests a fitting 
remedy. 

The Wonderful Kettle 

A story is told among the Iroquois of two brothers 
who lived in the wilderness far from all human habi- 
tation. The elder brother went into the forest to hunt 
game, while the younger stayed at home and tended 
the hut, cooked the food, and gathered firewood. 

One evening the tired hunter returned from the 
chase, and the younger brother took the game from 
him as usual and dressed it for supper. " I will smoke 
awhile before I eat," said the hunter, and he smoked 
in silence for a time. When he was tired of smoking 
he lay down and went to sleep. 

" Strange," said the boy ; " I should have thought 
he would want to eat first." 

When the hunter awoke he found that his brother 
had prepared the supper and was waiting for him. 

" Go to bed," said he ; "I wish to be alone." 

Wondering much, the boy did as he was bidden, 
but he could not help asking himself how his brother 
could possibly live if he did not eat. In the morn- 
ing he observed that the hunter went away without 
tasting any food, and on many succeeding mornings 
and evenings the same thing happened. 

" I must watch him at night," said the boy to him- 
self, " for he must eat at night, since he eats at no other 
time." 

That same evening, when the lad was told as usual 
to go to bed, he lay down and pretended to be sound 
asleep, but all the time one of his eyes was open. In 
this cautious fashion he watched his brother, and saw 

251 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

him rise from his couch and pass through a trap-door 
in the floor, from which he shortly emerged bearing 
a rusty kettle, the bottom of which he scraped in- 
dustriously. Filling it with water, he set it on the 
blazing fire. As he did so he struck it with a whip, 
saying at every blow : "Grow larger, my kettle ! " 

The obedient kettle became of gigantic proportions, 
and after setting it aside to cool the man ate its contents 
with evident relish. 

His watchful younger brother, well content with 
the result of his observation, turned over and went to 
sleep. 

When the elder had set off next morning, the boy, 
filled with curiosity, opened the trap-door and dis- 
covered the kettle. "I wonder what he eats," he said, 
and there within the vessel was half a chestnut ! He 
was rather surprised at this discovery, but he thought 
to himself how pleased his brother would be if on his 
return he found a meal to his taste awaiting him. 
When evening drew near he put the kettle on the 
fire, took a whip, and, hitting it repeatedly, exclaimed : 
** Grow larger, my kettle 1 " 

The kettle grew larger, but to the boy's alarm it 
kept on growing until it filled the room, and he was 
obliged to get on the roof and stir it through the 
chimney. 

" What are you doing up there ^ " shouted the hunter, 
when he came within hail. 

" I took your kettle to get your supper ready," 
answered the boy. 

" Alas ! " cried the other, " now I must die ! " 

He quickly reduced the kettle to its original pro- 
portions and put it in its place. But he still wore such 
a sad and serious air that his brother was filled with 
dismay, and prayed that he might be permitted to 
252 




Ciiuw uiri'cr, in\- kcttli. 



THE WHITE HERON 

undo the mischief he had wrought. When the days 
went past and he found that his brother no longer 
went out to hunt or displayed any interest in life, but 
grew gradually thinner and more melancholy, his distress 
knew no bounds. 

" Let me fetch you some chestnuts," he begged 
earnestly. " Tell me where they may be found." 

The White Heron 

"You must travel a full day's journey," said the hunter 
in response to his entreaties. " You will then reach 
a river which is most difficult to ford. On the opposite 
bank there stands a lodge, and near by a chestnut- 
tree. Even then your difficulties will only be begun. 
The tree is guarded by a white heron, which never 
loses sight of it for a moment. He is employed for 
that purpose by the six women who live in the lodge, 
and with their war-clubs they slay any one who has the 
temerity to approach. 1 beg of you, do not think of 
going on such a hopeless errand." 

But the boy felt that were the chance of success even 
more slender he must make the attempt for the sake of 
his brother, whom his thoughtlessness had brought low. 

He made a little canoe about three inches long, and 
set off on his journey, in the direction indicated by his 
brother. At the end of a day he came to the river, 
whose size had not been underestimated. Taking his 
little canoe from his pocket, he drew it out till it was of 
a suitable length, and launched it in the great stream. 
A few minutes sufficed to carry him to the opposite 
bank, and there he beheld the lodge and the chestnut- 
tree. On his way he had managed to procure some 
seeds of a sort greatly liked by herons, and these he 
scattered before the beautiful white bird strutting round 
the tree. While the heron was busily engaged in 

253 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

picking them up the young man seized his opportunity 
and gathered quantities of the chestnuts, which were 
lying thickly on the ground. Ere his task was finished, 
however, the heron perceived the intruder, and called a 
loud warning to the women in the lodge, who were not 
slow to respond. They rushed out with their fishing- 
lines in their hands, and gave chase to the thief. But 
fear, for his brother as well as for himself, lent the 
youth wings, and he was well out on the river in his 
canoe when the shrieking women reached the bank. 
The eldest threw her line and caught him, but with a 
sharp pull he broke it. Another line met with the 
same fate, and so on, until all the women had thrown 
their lines. They could do nothing further, and were 
obliged to watch the retreating canoe in impotent 
rage. 

At length the youth, having come safely through 
the perils of the journey, arrived home with his 
precious burden of chestnuts. He found his brother 
still alive, but so weak that he could hardly speak. A 
meal of the chestnuts, however, helped to revive him, 
and he quickly recovered. 

The Stone Giantess 

In bygone times it was customary for a hunter's wife 
to accompany her husband when he sought the chase. 
A dutiful wife on these occasions would carry home 
the game killed by the hunter and dress and cook it 
for him. 

There was once a chief among the Iroquois who was 
a very skilful hunter. In all his expeditions his wife 
was his companion and helper. On one excursion he 
found such large quantities of game that he built a 
wigwam at the place, and settled there for a time with 
his wife and child. One day he struck out on a new 
2S4 



THE STONE GIANTESS 

track, while his wife followed the path they had taken 
on the previous day, in order to gather the game 
killed then. As the woman turned her steps home- 
ward after a hard day's work she heard the sound of 
another woman's voice inside the hut. Filled with 
surprise, she entered, but found to her consternation 
that her visitor was no other than a Stone Giantess, "^o 
add to her alarm, she saw that the creature had in her 
arms the chief's baby. While the mother stood in the 
doorway, wondering how she could rescue her child 
from the clutches of the giantess, the latter said in a 
gentle and soothing voice : " Do not be afraid : come 
inside." 

The hunter's wife hesitated no longer, but boldly 
entered the wigwam. Once Inside, her fear changed 
to pity, for the giantess was evidently much worn with 
trouble and fatigue. She told the hunter's wife, who 
was kindly and sympathetic, how she had travelled from 
the land of the Stone Giants, fleeing from her cruel 
husband, who had sought to kill her, and how she had 
finally taken shelter in the solitary wigwam. She be- 
sought the young woman to let her remain for a while, 
promising to assist her in her daily tasks. She also 
said she was very hungry, but warned her hostess that 
she must be exceedingly careful about the food she 
gave her. It must not be raw or at all underdone, for 
if once she tasted blood she might wish to kill the 
hunter and his wife and child. 

So the wife prepared some food for her, taking care 
that It was thoroughly cooked, and the two sat down 
to dine together. The Stone Giantess knew that the 
woman was In the habit of carrying home the game, and 
she now declared that she would do it In her stead. 
Moreover, she said she already knew where it was to be 
found, and insisted on setting out for it at once. She 

255 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

very shortly returned, bearing In one hand a load of 
game which four men could scarcely have carried, and 
the woman recognized in her a very valuable assistant. 

The time of the hunter's return drew near, and the 
Stone Giantess bade the wife go out and meet her 
husband and tell him of her visitor. The man was 
very well pleased to learn how the new-comer had 
helped his wife, and he gave her a hearty welcome. In 
the morning he went out hunting as usual. When he 
had disappeared from sight in the forest the giantess 
turned quickly to the woman and said : 

" I have a secret to tell you. My cruel husband is 
after me, and in three days he will arrive here. On 
the third day your husband must remain at home and 
help me to slay him." 

When the third day came round the hunter remained 
at home, obedient to the instructions of his guest. 

" Now," said the giantess at last, " I hear him 
coming. You must both help me to hold him. Strike 
him where I bid you, and we shall certainly kill him." 

The hunter and his wife were seized with terror 
when a great commotion outside announced the arrival 
of the Stone Giant, but the firmness and courage of 
the p-iantess reassured them, and with something: like 
calmness they awaited the monster's approach. Directly 
he came in sight the giantess rushed forward, grappled 
with him and threw him to the ground. 

" Strike him on the arms ! " she cried to the others. 
" Now on the nape of the neck 1 " 

The trembling couple obeyed, and very shortly they 
had succeeded in killing the huge creature. 

" I will go and bury him," said the giantess. And 
that was the end of the Stone Giant. 

The strange guest stayed on in the wigwam till the 
time came for the hunter and his family to go back to 
256 



THE HEALING WATERS 

the settlement, when she announced her intention of 
returning to her own people. 

" My husband is dead," said she ; " I have no 
longer anything to fear." Thus, having bade them 
farewell, she departed. 

The Healing Waters 

The Iroquois have a touching story of how a brave 
of their race once saved his wife and his people from 
extinction. 

It was winter, the snow lay thickly on the ground, 
and there was sorrow in the encampment, for with the 
cold weather a dreadful plague had visited the people. 
There was not one but had lost some relative, and 
in some cases whole families had been swept away. 
Among those who had been most sorely bereaved was 
Nekumonta, a handsome young brave, whose parents, 
brothers, sisters, and children had died one by one 
before his eyes, the while he was powerless to help 
them. And now his wife, the beautiful Shanewis, was 
weak and ill. The dreaded disease had laid its awful 
finger on her brow, and she knew that she must shortly 
bid her husband farewell and take her departure for the 
place of the dead. Already she saw her dead friends 
beckoning to her and inviting her to join them, but it 
grieved her terribly to think that she must leave her 
young husband in sorrow and loneliness. His despair 
was piteous to behold when she broke the sad news 
to him, but after the first outburst of grief he bore up 
bravely, and determined to fight the plague with all 
his strength. 

" I must find the healing herbs which the Great 
Manitou has planted," said he. "Wherever they may 
be, I must find them." 

So he made his wife comfortable on her couch, 

257 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
covering her with warm furs, and then, embracing her 
gently, he set out on his difficult mission. 

All day he sought eagerly in the forest for the 
healing herbs, but everywhere the snow lay deep, 
and not so much as a blade of grass was visible. 
When night came he crept along the frozen ground, 
thinking that his sense of smell might aid him in his 
search. Thus for three days and nights he wandered 
through the forest, over hills and across rivers, in a 
vain attempt to discover the means of curing the malady 
of Shanewis. 

When he met a little scurrying rabbit in the path he 
cried eagerly : " Tell me, where shall I find the herbs 
which Manitou has planted .'' " 

But the rabbit hurried away without reply, for he 
knew that the herbs had not yet risen above the ground, 
and he was very sorry for the brave. 

Nekumonta came by and by to the den of a big 
bear, and of this animal also he asked the same ques- 
tion. But the bear could give him no reply, and he 
was obliged to resume his weary journey. He con- 
sulted all the beasts of the forest in turn, but from 
none could he get any help. How could they tell him, 
indeed, that his search was hopeless ^ 

The Pity of the Trees 

On the third night he was very weak and ill, for he 
had tasted no food since he had first set out, and he was 
numbed with cold and despair. He stumbled over a 
withered branch hidden under the snow, and so tired 
was he that he lay where he fell, and immediately went 
to sleep. All the birds and the beasts, all the multitude 
of creatures that inhabit the forest, came to watch over 
his slumbers. They remembered his kindness to them 
in former days, how he had never slain an animal unless 
258 




['S 



" She sang a strange, sweet song " 



258 



THE FINDING OF THE WATERS 

he really needed it for food or clothing, how he had 
loved and protected the trees and the flowers. Their 
hearts were touched by his courageous fight for Shanewis, 
and they pitied his misfortunes. All that they could do 
to aid him they did. They cried to the Great Manitou 
to save his wife from the plague which held her, and 
the Great Spirit heard the manifold whispering and 
responded to their prayers.] 

While Nekumonta lay asleep there came to him the 
messenger of Manitou, and he dreamed. In his dream 
he saw his beautiful Shanewis, pale and thin, but as 
lovely as ever, and as he looked she smiled at him, 
and sang a strange, sweet song, like the murmuring of 
a distant waterfall. Then the scene changed, and it 
really was a waterfall he heard. In musical language 
it called him by name, saying : " Seek us, O Neku- 
monta, and when you find us Shanewis shall live. We 
are the Healing Waters of the Great Manitou." 

Nekumonta awoke with the words of the song still 
ringing in his ears. Starting to his feet, he looked In 
every direction ; but there was no water to be seen, 
though the murmuring sound of a waterfall was dis- 
tinctly audible. He fancied he could even distinguish 
words in it. 

The Finding of the Waters 

" Release us I" it seemed to say, " Set us free, and 
Shanewis shall be saved ! " 

Nekumonta searched in vain for the waters. Then 
it suddenly occurred to him that they must be under- 
ground, directly under his feet. Seizing branches, 
stones, flints, he dug feverishly into the earth. So 
arduous was the task that before it was finished he was 
completely exhausted. But at last the hidden spring 
was disclosed, and the waters were rippling merrily 

259 



I 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

down the vale, carrying life and happiness wherever 
they went. The young man bathed his aching limbs 
in the healing stream, and in a moment he was well 
and strong. 

Raising his hands, he gave thanks to Manitou. With 
eager fingers he made a jar of clay, and baked it in the 
fire, so that he might carry life to Shanewis. As he 
pursued his way homeward with his treasure his despair 
was changed to rejoicing and he sped like the wind. 

When he reached his village his companions ran to 
greet him. Their faces were sad and hopeless, for the 
plague still raged. However, Nekumonta directed 
them to the Healing Waters and inspired them with 
new hope. Shanewis he found on the verge of the 
Shadow-land, and scarcely able to murmur a farewell 
to her husband. But Nekumonta did not listen to her 
broken adieux. He forced some of the Healing Water 
between her parched lips, and bathed her hands and 
her brow till she fell into ^. gentle slumber. When 
she awoke the fever had leit her, she was serene and 
smiling, and Nekumonta's heart was filled with a great 
happiness. 

The tribe was for ever rid of the dreaded plague, 
and the people gave to Nekumonta the title of ' Chief 
of the Healing Waters,' so that all might know that it 
was he who had brought them the gift of Manitou. 

Sayadio in Spirit'Iand 

A legend of the Wyandot tribe of the Iroquois 
relates how Sayadio, a young Indian, mourned greatly 
for a beautiful sister who had died young. So deeply 
did he grieve for her that at length he resolved to seek 
her in the Land of Spirits. Long he sought the maiden, 
and many adventures did he meet with. Years passed 
in the search, which he was about to abandon as wholly 
260 



^(_)un lue Liauciiii' LI mnucuLCLi 



260 



SAYADIO IN SPIRIT-LAND 

in vain, when he encountered an old man, who gave 
him some good advice. This venerable person also 
bestowed upon him a magic calabash in which he 
might catch and retain the spirit of his sister should 
he succeed in finding her. He afterward discovered 
that this old man was the keeper of that part of the 
Spirit-land which he sought. 

Delighted to have achieved so much, Sayadio pur- 
sued his way, and in due time reached the Land of 
Souls. But to his dismay he perceived that the spirits, 
instead of advancing to meet him as he had expected, 
fled from him in terror. Greatly dejected, he ap- 
proached Tarenyawago, the spirit master of ceremonies, 
who took compassion upon him and informed him that 
the dead had gathered together for a great dance fes- 
tival, just such as the Indians themselves celebrate at 
certain seasons of the year. Soon the dancing com- 
menced, and Sayadio saw the spirits floating round in 
a mazy measure like wreaths of mist. Among them 
he perceived his sister, and sprang forward to embrace 
her, but she eluded his grasp and dissolved into air. 

Much cast down, the youth once more appealed to 
the sympathetic master of ceremonies, who gave him a 
magic rattle of great power, by the sound of which he 
might bring her back. Again the spirit-music sounded 
for the dance, and the dead folk thronged into the circle. 
Once more Sayadio saw his sister, and observed that she 
was so wholly entranced with the music that she took 
no heed of his presence. Quick as thought the young 
Indian dipped up the ghost with his calabash as one 
nets a fish, and secured the cover, in spite of all the 
efforts of the captured soul to regain its liberty. 

Retracing his steps earthward, he had no difficulty 
in making his way back to his native village, where he 
summoned his friends to come and behold his sister's 

s 261 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

resuscitation. The girl's corpse was brought from its 
resting-place to be reanimated with its spirit, and all 
was prepared for the ceremony, when a witless Indian 
maiden must needs peep into the calabash in her 
curiosity to see how a disembodied spirit looked. 
Instantly, as a bird rises when its cage bars are opened 
and flies forth to freedom, the spirit of Sayadio's sister 
flew from the calabash before the startled youth could 
dash forward and shut down the cover. For a while 
Sayadio could not realize his loss, but at length his 
straining eyes revealed to him that the spirit of his 
sister was not within sight. In a flash he saw the ruin 
of his hopes, and with a broken heart he sank senseless 
to the earth. 

The Peace Queen 

A brave of the Oneida tribe of the Iroquois hunted 
in the forest. The red buck flashed past him, but not 
swifter than his arrow, for as the deer leaped he loosed 
his shaft and it pierced the dappled hide. 

The young man strode toward the carcass, knife in 
hand, but as he seized the horns the branches parted, 
and the angry face of an Onondaga warrior lowered 
between them. 

" Leave the buck, Oneida," he commanded fiercely. 
" It is the spoil of my bow. I wounded the beast ere 
you saw it." 

The Oneida laughed. " My brother may have shot 
at the buck," he said, " but what avails that if he did 
not slay it ? " 

" The carcass is mine by right of forest law," cried 
the other in a rage. " Will you quit it or will you 
fight?" 

The Oneida drew himself up and regarded the 
Onondaga scornfully. 
262 



THE QUARREL 

" As my brother pleases," he replied. Next moment 
the two were locked in a life-and-death struggle. 

Tall was the Onondaga and strong as a great tree 
of the forest. The Oneida, lithe as a panther, fought 
with all the courage of youth. To and fro they swayed, 
till their breathing came thick and fast and the falling 
sweat blinded their eyes. At length they could struggle 
no longer, and by a mutual impulse they sprang apart. 

The Quarrel 

" Ho ! Onondaga," cried the younger man, "what 
profits it thus to strive for a buck ? Is there no meat 
in the lodges of your people that they must fight for 
it like the mountain lion ? " 

" Peace, young man 1 " retorted the grave Onondaga. 
" I had not fought for the buck had not your evil 
tongue roused me. But I am older than you, and, 1 
trust, wiser. Let us seek the lodge of the Peace 
Queen hard by, and she will award the buck to him 
who has the best right to it." 

" It is well," said the Oneida, and side by side they 
sought the lodge of the Peace Queen. 

Now the Five Nations in their wisdom had set apart 
a Seneca maiden dwelling alone in the forest as arbiter 
of quarrels between braves. This maiden the men of 
all tribes regarded as sacred and as apart from other 
women. Like the ancient Vestals, she could not become 
the bride of any man. 

As the Peace Queen heard the wrathful clamour of 
the braves outside her lodge she stepped forth, little 
pleased that they should thus profane the vicinity of 
her dwelling. 

"Peace!" she cried. "If you have a grievance 
enter and state it. It is not fitting that braves should 
quarrel where the Peace Queen dwells." 

265 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

At her words the men stood abashed. They entered 
the lodge and told the story of their meeting and the 
circumstances of their quarrel. 

When they had finished the Peace Queen smiled 
scornfully. " So two such braves as you can quarrel 
about a buck .? " she said. " Go, Onondaga, as the 
elder, and take one half of the spoil, and bear it back 
to your wife and children." 

But the Onondaga stood his ground. 

The Offers 

"O Queen," he said, "my wife is in the Land of 
Spirits, snatched from me by the Plague Demon. But 
my lodge does not lack food. I would wive again, 
and thine eyes have looked into my heart as the sun 
pierces the darkness of the forest. Will you come to 
my lodge and cook my venison ?" 

But the Peace Queen shook her head. 

" You know that the Five Nations have placed 
Genetaska apart to be Peace Queen," she replied 
firmly, "and that her vows may not be broken. Go 
in peace." 

The Onondaga was silent. 

Then spoke the Oneida. "O Peace Queen," he 
said, gazing steadfastly at Genetaska, whose eyes 
dropped before his glance, " I know that you are set 
apart by the Five Nations. But it is in my mind to 
ask you to go with me to my lodge, for I love you. 
What says Genetaska ^ " 

The Peace Queen blushed and answered : " To you 
also I say, go in peace," but her voice was a whisper 
which ended in a stifled sob. 

The two warriors departed, good friends now that 
they possessed a common sorrow. But the Peace 
Maiden had for ever lost her peace. For she could 
z64 



THE OFFERS 

not forget the young Oneida brave, so tall, so strong, 
and so gentle. 

Summer darkened into autumn, and autumn whitened 
into winter. Warriors innumerable came to the Peace 
Lodge for the settlement of disputes. Outwardly Gene- 
taska was calm and untroubled, but though she gave 
solace to others her own breast could find none. 

One day she sat by the lodge fire, which had burned 
down to a heap of cinders. She was thinking, dreaming 
of the young Oneida. Her thoughts went out to him 
as birds fly southward to seek the sun. Suddenly a 
crackling of twigs under a firm step roused her from 
her reverie. Quickly she glanced upward. Before 
her stood the youth of her dreams, pale and worn. 

" Peace Queen," he said sadly, " you have brought 
darkness to the soul of the Oneida. No longer may 
he follow the hunt. The deer may sport in quiet for 
him. No longer may he bend the bow or throw the 
tomahawk in contest, or listen to the tale during the 
long nights round the camp-fire. You have his heart 
in your keeping. Say, will you not give him yours ?" 

Softly the Peace Queen murmured : " I will." 

Hand in hand like two joyous children they sought 
his canoe, which bore them swiftly westward. No 
longer was Genetaska Peace Queen, for her vows were 
broken by the power of love. 

The two were happy. But not so the men of the 
Five Nations. They were wroth because the Peace 
Queen had broken her vows, and knew how foolish 
they had been to trust to the word of a young and 
beautiful woman. So with one voice they abolished 
the office of Peace Queen, and war and tumult returned 
once more to their own. 



265 



CHAPTER V ; SIOUX MYTHS 
AND LEGENDS 

The Sioux or Dakota Indians 

THE Sioux or Dakota Indians dwell north of 
the Arkansas River on the right bank of the 
Mississippi, stretching over to Lake Michigan 
and up the valley of the Missouri. One of their prin- 
cipal tribes is the Iowa. 

The Adventures of Ictinike 

Many tales are told by the Iowa Indians regarding 
Ictinike, the son of the sun-god, who had offended 
his father, and was consequently expelled from the 
celestial regions. He possesses a very bad reputation 
among the Indians for deceit and trickery. They say 
that he taught them all the evil things they know, and 
they seem to regard him as a Father of Lies. The 
Omahas state that he gave them their war-customs, and 
for one reason or another they appear to look upon 
him as a species of war-god. A series of myths recount 
his adventures with several inhabitants of the wild. The 
first of these is as follows. 

One day Ictinike encountered the Rabbit, and hailed 
him in a friendly manner, calling him * grandchild,' and 
requesting him to do him a service. The Rabbit ex- 
pressed his willingness to assist the god to the best of his 
ability, and inquired what he wished him to do. 

" Oh, grandchild," said the crafty one, pointing up- 
ward to where a bird circled in the blue vault above 
them, " take your bow and arrow and bring down 
yonder bird." 

The Rabbit fitted an arrow to his bow, and the shaft 
transfixed the bird, which fell like a stone and lodged 
in the branches of a great tree. 
266 



THE ADVENTURES OF ICTINIKE 

"Now, grandchild," said Ictinike, "go into the tree 
and fetch me the game." 

This, however, the Rabbit at first refused to do, but 
at length he took off his clothes and climbed into the 
tree, where he stuck fast among the tortuous branches. 

Ictinike, seeing that he could not make his way down, 
donned the unfortunate Rabbit's garments, and, highly- 
amused at the animal's predicament, betook himself to 
the nearest village. There he encountered a chief who 
had two beautiful daughters, the elder of whom he 
married. The younger daughter, regarding this as an 
affront to her personal attractions, wandered off into 
the forest in a fit of the sulks. As she paced angrily 
up and down she heard some one calling to her from 
above, and, looking upward, she beheld the unfortu- 
nate Rabbit, whose fur was adhering to the natural 
gum which exuded from the bark of the tree. The 
girl cut down the tree and lit a fire near it, which 
melted the gum and freed the Rabbit. The Rabbit 
and the chief's daughter compared notes, and dis- 
covered that the being who had tricked the one and 
affronted the other was the same. Together they pro- 
ceeded to the chief's lodge, where the girl was laughed 
at because of the strange companion she had brought 
back with her. Suddenly an eagle appeared in the air 
above them. Ictinike shot at and missed it, but the 
Rabbit loosed an arrow with great force and brought 
it to earth. Each morning a feather of the bird be- 
came another eagle, and each morning Ictinike shot at 
and missed this newly created bird, which the Rabbit 
invariably succeeded in killing. This went on until 
Ictinike had quite worn out the Rabbit's clothing and 
was wearing a very old piece of tent skin ; but the 
Rabbit returned to him the garments he had been 
forced to don when Ictinike had stolen his. Then 

267 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

the Rabbit commanded the Indians to beat the drums, 
and each time they were beaten Ictinike jumped so high 
that every bone in his body was shaken. At length, after 
a more than usually loud series of beats, he leapt to such 
a height that when he came down it was found that the 
fall had broken his neck. The Rabbit was avenged. 

Ictinike and the Buzzard 

One day Ictinike, footsore and weary, encountered 
a buzzard, which he asked to oblige him by carrying 
him on its back part of the way. The crafty bird 
immediately consented, and, seating Ictinike between 
its wings, flew off with him. 

They had not gone far when they passed above a 
hollow tree, and Ictinike began to shift uneasily in his 
seat as he observed the buzzard hovering over it. He 
requested the bird to fly onward, but for answer it 
cast him headlong into the tree-trunk, where he found 
himself a prisoner. For a long time he lay there in 
want and wretchedness, until at last a large hunting- 
party struck camp at the spot. Ictinike chanced to be 
wearing some racoon skins, and he thrust the tails of 
these through the cracks in the tree. Three women 
who were standing near imagined that a number of 
racoons had become imprisoned in the hollow trunk, 
and they made a large hole in it for the purpose of 
capturing them. Ictinike at once emerged, where- 
upon the women fled. Ictinike lay on the ground 
pretending to be dead, and as he was covered with the 
racoon-skins the birds of prey, the eagle, the rook, 
and the magpie, came to devour him. While they 
pecked at him the buzzard made his appearance for the 
purpose of joining in the feast, but Ictinike, rising 
quickly, tore the feathers from its scalp. That is why 
the buzzard has no feathers on its head. 
268 





o.<\ 



He jumped so high that ever\- bone in liis bud\- \v;is Mia'kcii " 2"8 



ICTINIKE AND THE CREATORS 

Ictinike and the Creators 

In course of time Ictinike married and dwelt in 
a lodge of his own. One day he intimated to his wife 
that it was his intention to visit her grandfather the 
Beaver. On arriving at the Beaver's lodge he found 
that his grandfather-in-law and his family had been 
without food for a long time, and were slowly dying 
of starvation. Ashamed at having no food to place 
before their guest, one of the young beavers offered 
himself up to provide a meal for Ictinike, and was 
duly cooked and served to the visitor. Before Ictinike 
partook of the dish, however, he was earnestly re- 
quested by the Beaver not to break any of the bones 
of his son, but unwittingly he split one of the toe- 
bones. Having finished his repast, he lay down to 
rest, and the Beaver gathered the bones and put them 
in a skin. This he plunged into the river that flowed 
beside his lodge, and in a moment the young beaver 
emerged from the water alive. 

" How do you feel, my son ? " asked the Beaver. 

" Alas ! father," replied the young beaver, " one of 
my toes is broken." 

From that time every beaver has had one toe — that 
next to the little one — which looks as if it had been split 
by biting. 

Ictinike shortly after took his leave of the Beavers, 
and pretended to forget his tobacco-pouch, which he 
left behind. The Beaver told one of his young ones 
to run after him with the pouch, but, being aware 
of Ictinike's treacherous character, he advised his off- 
spring to throw it to the god when at some distance 
away. The young beaver accordingly took the pouch 
I and hurried after Ictinike, and, obeying his father's 
instruction, was about to throw it to him from a 
, 269 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

considerable distance when Ictinike called to him : 
" Come closer, come closer." 

The young beaver obeyed, and as Ictinike took the 
pouch from him he said : " Tell your father that he 
must visit me." 

When the young beaver arrived home he acquainted 
his father with what had passed, and the Beaver showed 
signs of great annoyance. 

" I knew he would say that," he growled, " and that 
is why I did not want you to go near him." 

But the Beaver could not refuse the invitation, 
and in due course returned the visit. Ictinike, wish- 
ing to pay him a compliment, was about to kill one of 
his own children >vherewith to regale the Beaver, and 
was slapping it to make it cry in order that he might 
work himself into a passion sufficiently murderous to 
enable him to take its life, when the Beaver spoke to 
him sharply and told him that such a sacrifice was 
unnecessary. Going down to the stream hard by, the 
Beaver found a young beaver by the water, which was 
brought up to the lodge, killed and cooked, and duly 
eaten. 

On another occasion Ictinike announced to his wife 
his intention of calling upon her grandfather the 
Musk-rat. At the Musk-rat's lodge he met with the 
same tale of starvation as at the home of the Beaver, 
but the Musk-rat told his wife to fetch some water, 
put it in the kettle, and hang the kettle over the fire. 
When the water was boiling the Musk-rat upset the 
kettle, which was found to be full of wild rice, upon 
which Ictinike feasted. As before, he left his tobacco- 
pouch with his host, and the Musk-rat sent one of his 
children after him with the article. An invitation for 
the Musk-rat to visit him resulted, and the call was 
duly paid. Ictinike, wishing to display his magical 
270 



THE STORY OF WABASKAHA 

powers, requested his wife to hang a kettle of water 
over the fire, but, to his chagrin, when the water 
was boiled and the kettle upset instead of wild rice 
only water poured out. Thereupon the Musk-rat had 
the kettle refilled, and produced an abundance of rice, 
much to Ictinike's annoyance. 

Ictinike then called upon his wife's grandfather the 
Kingfisher, who, to provide him with food, dived into 
the river and brought up fish. Ictinike extended a 
similar invitation to him, and the visit was duly paid. 
Desiring to be even with his late host, the god dived 
into the river in search offish. He soon found himself 
in difficulties, however, and if it had not been for the 
Kingfisher he would most assuredly have been drowned. 

Lastly, Ictinike went to visit his wife's grandfather 
the Flying Squirrel. The Squirrel climbed to the top 
of his lodge and brought down a quantity of excellent 
black walnuts, which Ictinike ate. When he departed 
from the Squirrel's house he purposely left one of his 
gloves, which a small squirrel brought after him, and 
he sent an invitation by this messenger for the Squirrel 
to visit him in turn. Wishing to show his cleverness, 
Ictinike scrambled to the top of his lodge, but instead 
of finding any black walnuts there he fell and severely 
injured himself. Thus his presumption was punished 
for the fourth time. 

The four beings alluded to in this story as the 
Beaver, Musk-rat, Kingfisher, and Flying Squirrel are 
four of the creative gods of the Sioux, whom Ictinike 
evidently could not equal so far as reproductive magic 
was concerned. 

The Story of "Wabaskaha 

An interesting story is that of Wabaskaha, an Omaha 
brave, the facts related in which occurred about a 

271 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
century ago. A party of Pawnees on the war-path raided 
the horses belonging to some Omahas dwelling beside 
Omaha Creek. Most of the animals were the property 
of Wabaskaha, who immediately followed on their trail. 
A few Omahas who had tried to rescue the horses had 
also been carried off, and on the arrival of the Pawnee 
party at the Republican River several of the Pawnees 
proposed to put their prisoners to death. Others, 
however, refused to participate in such an act, and 
strenuously opposed the suggestion. A wife of one of 
the Pawnee chiefs fed the captives, after which her 
husband gave them permission to depart. 

After this incident quite a feeling of friendship sprang 
up between the two peoples, and the Pawnees were 
continually inviting the Omahas to feasts and other 
entertainments, but they refused to return the horses 
they had stolen. They told Wabaskaha that if he 
came for his horses in the fall they would exchange 
them then for a certain amount of gunpowder, and 
that was the best arrangement he could come to 
with them. On his way homeward Wabaskaha mourned 
loudly for the horses, which constituted nearly the 
whole of his worldly possessions, and called upon 
Wakanda, his god, to assist and avenge him. In 
glowing language he recounted the circumstances of 
his loss to the people of his tribe, and so strong was 
their sense of the injustice done him that next day a 
general meeting was held in the village to consider his 
case. A pipe was filled, and Wabaskaha asked the 
men of his tribe to place it to their lips if they decided 
to take vengeance on the Pawnees. All did so, but 
the premeditated raid was postponed until the early 
autumn. 

After a summer of hunting the braves sought the 
war-path. They had hardly started when a number of 
272 



,,^^^^ 




The War-chief kill? the Monster Rattlesnake 



272 



THE MEN'SERPENTS 

Dakotas arrived at their village, bringing some tobacco. 
The Dakotas announced their intention of joining the 
Omaha war-party, the trail of which they took up 
accordingly. In a few days the Omahas arrived at the 
Pawnee village, which they attacked at daylight. After 
a vigorous defence the Pawnees were almost exter- 
minated, and all their horses captured. The Dakotas 
who had elected to assist the Omaha war-party were, 
however, slain to a man. Such was the vengeance of 
Wabaskaha. 

This story is interesting as an account of a veritable 
Indian raid, taken from the lips of Joseph La Fleche, 
a Dakota Indian. 

The Men-Serpents 

Twenty warriors who had been on the war-path were 
returning homeward worn-out and hungry, and as they 
went they scattered in search of game to sustain them 
on their way. 

Suddenly one of the braves, placing his ear to the 
ground, declared that he could hear a herd of buffaloes 
approaching. 

The band was greatly cheered by this news, and the 
plans made by the chief to intercept the animals were 
quickly carried into effect. 

Nearer and nearer came the supposed herd. The 
chief lay very still, ready to shoot when it came within 
range. Suddenly he saw, to his horror, that what 
approached them was a huge snake with a rattle as 
large as a man's head. Though almost paralysed with 
surprise and terror, he managed to shoot the monster 
and kill it. He called up his men, who were not a 
little afraid of the gigantic creature, even though it 
was dead, and for a long time they debated what 
they should do with the carcass. At length hunger 

273 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

conquered their scruples and made them decide to cook 
and cat it. To their surprise, they found the meat as 
savoury as that of a buffalo, which it much resembled. 
All partook of the fare, with the exception of one boy, 
who persisted in refusing it, though they pressed him 
to eat. 

When the warriors had finished their meal they lay 
down beside the camp-fire and fell asleep. Later in 
the night the chief awoke and was horrified to find 
that his companions had turned to snakes, and that he 
himself was already half snake, half man. Hastily he 
gathered his transformed warriors, and they saw that 
the boy who had not eaten of the reptile had retained 
his own form. The lad, fearing that the serpents might 
attack him, began to weep, but the snake-warriors 
treated him very kindly, giving him their charms and 
all they possessed. 

At their request he put them into a large robe and 
carried them to the summit of a high hill, where he set 
them down under the trees. 

" You must return to our lodges," they told him, 
"and in the summer we will visit our kindred. See 
that our wives and children come out to greet us." 

The boy carried the news to his village, and there 
was much weeping and lamentation when the friends of 
the warriors heard of their fate. But in the summer the 
snakes came and sat in a group outside the village, and 
all the people crowded round them, loudly venting 
their grief. The horses which had belonged to the 
snakes were brought out to them, as well as their 
moccasins, leggings, whips, and saddles. 

"Do not be afraid of them," said the boy to the 
assembled people. " Do not flee from them, lest 
something happen to you also." So they let the snakes 
creep over them, and no harm befell. 
274 



THE THREE TESTS 

In the winter the snakes vanished altogether, and 
with them their horses and other possessions, and the 
people never saw them more. 

The Three Tests 

There dwelt in a certain village a woman of re- 
markable grace and attractiveness. The fame of her 
beauty drew suitors from far and near, eager to dis- 
play their prowess and win the love of this imperious 
creature — for, besides being beautiful, she was extremely 
hard to please, and set such tests for her lovers as none 
had ever been able to satisfy. 

A certain young man who lived at a considerable 
distance had heard of her great charms, and made up 
his mind to woo and win her. The difficulty of the 
task did not daunt him, and, full of hope, he set out on 
his mission. 

As he travelled he came to a very high hill, and on 
the summit he saw a man rising and sitting down at 
short intervals. When the prospective suitor drew 
nearer he observed that the man was fastening large 
stones to his ankles. The youth approached him, saying : 
" Why do you tie these great stones to your ankles ? " 

"Oh," replied the other, "I wish to chase buffaloes, 
and yet whenever I do so I go beyond them, so I am 
tying stones to my ankles that I may not run so fast." 

"My friend," said the suitor, "you can run some 
other time. In the meantime I am without a com- 
panion : come with me." 

The Swift One agreed, and they walked on their 
way together. Ere they had gone very far they saw 
two large lakes. By the side of one of them sat a man, 
who frequently bowed his head to the water and drank. 
Surprised that his thirst was not quenched, they said to 
him : " Why do you sit there drinking of the lake ? " 

275 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

" I can never get enough water. When I have 
finished this lake I shall start on the other." 

"My friend," said the suitor, "do not trouble to 
drink it just now. Come and join us." 

The Thirsty One complied, and the three comrades 
journeyed on. When they had gone a little farther 
they noticed a man walking along with his face lifted 
to the sky. Curious to know why he acted thus, they 
addressed him. 

"Why do you walk with your eyes turned sky- 
ward ^ " said they. 

" I have shot an arrow," he said, " and I am waiting 
for it to reappear." 

" Never mind your arrow," said the suitor. " Come 
with us.*' 

" I will come," said the Skilful Archer. 

As the four companions journeyed through a forest 
they beheld a strange sight. A man was lying with his 
ear to the ground, and if he lifted his head for a 
moment he bowed it again, listening intently. The 
four approached him, saying : " Friend, for what do 
you listen so earnestly .''" 

" I am listening," said he, " to the plants growing. 
This forest is full of plants, and I am listening to 
their breathing." 

*' You can listen when the occasion arises," they 
told him. " Come and join us." 

He agreed, and so they travelled to the village where 
dwelt the beautiful maiden. 

When they had reached their destination they were 
quickly surrounded by the villagers, who displayed no 
small curiosity as to who their visitors were and what 
object they had in coming so far. When they heard 
that one of the strangers desired to marry the village 
beauty they shook their heads over him. Did he not 
276 




X 




•■ He leaned \n< slioulaer ayaiiiH inc u 



276 



THE RACE 

know the difficulties in the way ? Finding that he 
would not be turned from his purpose, they led him 
to a huge rock which overshadowed the village, and 
described the first test he would be required to meet. 

" If you wish to win the maiden," they said, "you 
must first of all push away that great stone. It is 
keeping the sunlight from us." 

"Alas ! " said the youth, " it is impossible." 

" Not so," said his companion of the swift foot ; 
" nothing could be more easy." 

Saying this, he leaned his shoulder against the rock, 
and with a mighty crash it fell from its place. From 
the breaking up of it came the rocks and stones that 
are scattered over all the world. 

The second test was of a different nature. The 
people brought the strangers a large quantity of food 
and water, and bade them eat and drink. Being very 
hungry, they succeeded in disposing of the food, but 
the suitor sorrowfully regarded the great kettles of 
water. 

"Alas ! " said he, "who can drink up that ? " 

" I can," said the Thirsty One, and in a twinkling 
he had drunk it all. 

The people were amazed at the prowess of the 
visitors. However, they said, " There is still another 
test," and they brought out a woman who was a very 
swift runner, so swift that no one had ever outstripped 
her in a race. 

The Race 

"You must run a race with this woman," said they. 
" If you win you shall have the hand of the maiden 
you have come to seek." 

Naturally the suitor chose the Swift One for this test. 
When the runners were started the people hailed them as 

T 277 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

fairly matched, for they raced together till they were 
out of sight. 

When they reached the turning-point the woman 
said: *' Come, let us rest for a little." 

The man agreed, but no sooner had he sat down 
than he fell asleep. The woman seized her opportunity. 
Making sure that her rival was sleeping soundly, she 
set off for the village, running as hard as she could. 

Meanwhile the four comrades were anxiously await- 
ing the return of the competitors, and great was their 
disappointment when the woman came in sight, while 
there was yet no sign of their champion. 

The man who could hear the plants growing bent 
his ear to the ground. 

" He is asleep," said he ; "I can hear him snoring." 

The Skilful Archer came forward, and as he bit 

the point off an arrow he said : " I will soon wake 

h>> 
im. 

He shot an arrow from the bowstring with such a 
wonderful aim that it wounded the sleeper's nose, and 
roused him from his slumbers. The runner started to 
his feet and looked round for the woman. She was gone. 
Knowing that he had been tricked, the Swift One put 
all his energy into an effort to overtake her. She was 
within a few yards of the winning-post when he passed 
her. It was a narrow margin, but nevertheless the 
Swift One had gained the race for his comrade. 

The youth was then married to the damsel, whom 
he found to be all that her admirers had claimed, and 
more. 

The Snake-Ogre 

One day a young brave, feeling at variance with the 
world in general, and wishing to rid himself of the 
mood, left the lodges of his people and journeyed into 

278 



THE SNAKE^OGRE 

the forest. By and by he came to an open space, in 
the centre of which was a high hill. Thinking he 
would climb to the top and reconnoitre, he directed 
his footsteps thither, and as he went he observed a 
man coming in the opposite direction and making for 
the same spot. The two met on the summit, and 
stood for a few moments silently regarding each other. 
The stranger was the first to speak, gravely inviting 
the young brave to accompany him to his lodge and 
sup with him. The other accepted the invitation, and 
they proceeded in the direction the stranger indicated. 

On approaching the lodge the youth saw with some 
surprise that there was a large heap of bones in front 
of the door. Within sat a very old woman tending a 
pot. When the young man learned that the feast was 
to be a cannibal one, however, he declined to partake 
of it. The woman thereupon boiled some corn for him, 
and while doing so told him that his host was nothing 
more nor less than a snake-man, a sort of ogre who 
killed and ate human beings. Because the brave was 
young and very handsome the old woman took pity on 
him, bemoaning the fate that would surely befall him 
unless he could escape from the wiles of the snake- 
man. 

"Listen," said she: "I will tell you what to do. 
Here are some moccasins. When the morning comes 
put them on your feet, take one step, and you will 
find yourself on that headland you see in the distance. 
Give this paper to the man you will meet there, and 
he will direct you further. But remember that how- 
ever far you may go, in the evening the Snake will 
overtake you. When you have finished with the moc- 
casins take them off, place them on the ground facing 
this way, and they will return." 

" Is that all ? " said the youth. 

2/9 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
" No," she replied. " Before you go you must kill 
me and put a robe over my bones." 

The Magic Moccasins 

The young brave forthwith proceeded to carry these 
instructions into effect. First of all he killed the old 
woman, and disposed of her remains in accordance with 
her bidding. In the morning he put on the magic 
moccasins which she had provided for him, and with 
one great step he reached the distant headland. Here 
he met an old man, who received the paper from 
him, and then, giving him another pair of moccasins, 
directed him to a far-off point where he was to deliver 
another piece of paper to a man who would await him 
there. Turning the first moccasins homeward, the 
young brave put the second pair to use, and took 
another gigantic step. Arrived at the second stage 
of his journey from the Snake's lodge, he found 
it a repetition of the first. He was directed to 
another distant spot, and from that to yet another. 
But when he delivered his message for the fourth time 
he was treated somewhat differently. 

" Down there in the hollow," said the recipient of 
the paper, " there is a stream. Go toward it, and walk 
straight on, but do not look at the water." 

The youth did as he was bidden, and shortly found 
himself on the opposite bank of the stream. 

He journeyed up the creek, and as evening fell 
he came upon a place where the river widened to a 
lake. Skirting its shores, he suddenly found himself 
face to face with the Snake. Only then did he 
remember the words of the old woman, who had 
warned him that in the evening the Snake would over- 
take him. So he turned himself into a little fish with 
red fins, lazily moving in the lake. 
280 




.-^^^v 



" With one great step he reached the distant headland " 2i 



THE SNAKE'S QUEST 

The Snake's Quest 

The Snake, high on the bank, saw the little creature, 
and cried : "Little Fish ! have you seen the person I 
am looking for ? If a bird had flown over the lake 
you must have seen it, the water is so still, and surely 
you have seen the man I am seeking ? " 

" Not so," replied the Little Fish, " 1 have seen no 
one. But if he passes this way I will tell you." 

So the Snake continued down-stream, and as he went 
there was a little grey toad right in his path. 

" Little Toad," said he, " have you seen him for 
whom I am seeking ? Even if only a shadow were 
here you must have seen it." 

" Yes," said the Little Toad, " I have seen him, but 
I cannot tell you which way he has gone." 

The Snake doubled and came back on his trail. 
Seeing a very large fish in shallow water, he said : 
" Have you seen the man I am looking for .''" 

"That is he with whom you have just been talk- 
ing," said the Fish, and the Snake turned homeward. 
Meeting a musk-rat he stopped. 

" Have you seen the person I am looking for ? " he 
said. Then, having his suspicions aroused, he added 
craftily : " I think that you are he." 

But the Musk-rat began a bitter complaint. 

"Just now," said he, "the person you seek passed 
over my lodge and broke it." 

So the Snake passed on, and encountered a red- 
breasted turtle. 

He repeated his query, and the Turtle told him 
that the object of his search was to be met with 
farther on. 

"But beware," he added, "for if you do not recog- 
nize him he will kill you." 

281 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Following the stream, the Snake came upon a large 
green frog floating in shallow water. 

" I have been seeking a person since morning," he 
said. " I think that you are he." 

The Frog allayed his suspicions, saying : " You will 
meet him farther down the stream." 

The Snake next found a large turtle floating among 
the green scum on a lake. Getting on the Turtle's 
back, he said : " You must be the person 1 seek," 
and his head rose higher and higher as he prepared to 
strike. 

" I am not," replied the Turtle. " The next person 
you meet will be he. But beware, for if you do not 
recognize him he will kill you." 

When he had gone a little farther down the Snake 
attempted to cross the stream. In the middle was an 
eddy. Crafty as he was, the Snake failed to recognize 
his enemy, and the eddy drew him down into the 
water and drowned him. So the youth succeeded 
in slaying the Snake who had sought throughout the 
day to kill him. 

The Story of the Salmon 

A certain chief who had a very beautiful daughter 
was unwilling to part with her, but knowing that the 
time must come when she would marry he arranged 
a contest for her suitors, in which the feat was to 
break a pair of elk's antlers hung in the centre of the 
lodge. 

" Whoever shall break these antlers," the old chief 
declared, " shall have the hand of my daughter." 

The quadrupeds came first — the Snail, Squirrel, 
Otter, Beaver, Wolf, Bear, and Panther ; but all their 
strength and skill would not suffice to break the 
antlers. Next came the Birds, but their efibrts also 
282 



THE STORY OF THE SALMON 

were unavailing. The only creature left who had not 
attempted the feat was a feeble thing covered with 
sores, whom the mischievous Blue Jay derisively sum- 
moned to perform the task. After repeated taunts 
from the tricky bird, the creature rose, shook itself, 
and became whole and clean and very good to look 
upon, and the assembled company saw that it was the 
Salmon. He grasped the elk's antlers and easily broke 
them in five pieces. Then, claiming his prize, the 
chief's daughter, he led her away. 

Before they had gone very far the people said : 
"Let us go and take the chief's daughter back," and 
they set off in pursuit of the pair along the sea-shore. 

When Salmon saw what was happening he created a 
bay between himself and his pursuers. The people at 
length reached the point of the bay on which Salmon 
stood, but he made another bay, and when they looked 
they could see him on the far-off point of that one. So 
the chase went on, till Salmon grew tired of exercising 
his magic powers. 

Coyote and Badger, who were in advance of the 
others, decided to shoot at Salmon. The arrow hit 
him in the neck and killed him instantly. When the 
rest of the band came up they gave the chief's daughter 
to the Wolves, and she became the wife of one of 
them. 

In due time the people returned to their village, 
and the Crow, who was Salmon's aunt, learnt of his 
death. She hastened away to the spot where he had 
been killed, to seek for his remains, but all she could 
find was one salmon's egg, which she hid in a hole in 
the river-bank. Next day she found that the egg was 
much larger, on the third day it was a small trout, and 
so it grew till it became a full-grown salmon, and at 
length a handsome youth. 

283 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Salmon's Magic Bath 

Leading young Salmon to a mountain pool, his 
grand-aunt said : " Bathe there, that you may see 
spirits." 

One day Salmon said : " I am tired of seeing spirits. 
Let me go away." 

The old Crow thereupon told him of his father's 
death at the hands of Badger and Coyote. 

"They have taken your father's bow," she said. 

The Salmon shot an arrow toward the forest, and 
the forest went on fire. He shot an arrow toward the 
prairie, and it also caught fire. 

" Truly," muttered the old Crow, " you have seen 
spirits." 

Having made up his mind to get his father's bow, 
Salmon journeyed to the lodge where Coyote and 
Badger dwelt. He found the door shut, and the 
creatures with their faces blackened, pretending to 
lament the death of old Salmon. However, he was 
not deceived by their tricks, but boldly entered and 
demanded his father's bow. Four times they gave him 
other bows, which broke when he drew them. The 
fifth time it was really his father's bow he received. 
Taking Coyote and Badger outside, he knocked them 
together and killed them. 

The Wolf Lodge 

As he travelled across the prairie he stumbled on the 
habitation of the Wolves, and on entering the lodge he 
encountered his father's wife, who bade him hide before 
the monsters returned. By means of strategy he got 
the better of them, shot them all, and sailed away in a 
little boat with the woman. Here he fell into a deep 
sleep, and slept so long that at last his companion 
284 



THE DROWNED CHILD 

ventured to wake him. Very angry at being roused, 
he turned her into a pigeon and cast her out of the 
boat, while he himself, as a salmon, swam to the shore. 
Near the edge of the water was a lodge, where dwelt 
five beautiful sisters. Salmon sat on the shore at a 
little distance, and took the form of an aged man 
covered with sores. When the eldest sister came down 
to speak to him he bade her carry him on her back to 
the lodge, but so loathsome a creature was he that she 
beat a hasty retreat. The second sister did likewise, 
and the third, and the fourth. But the youngest sister 
proceeded to carry him to the lodge, where he became 
again a young and handsome brave. He married all the 
sisters, but the youngest was his head-wife and his 
favourite. 

The Drowned Child 

On the banks of a river there dwelt a worthy couple 
with their only son, a little child whom they loved 
dearly. One day the boy wandered away from the 
lodge and fell into the water, and no one was near 
enough to rescue him. Great was the distress of the 
parents when the news reached them, and all his 
kindred were loud in their lamentations, for the child 
had been a favourite with everybody. The father 
especially showed signs of the deepest grief, and 
refused to enter his lodge till he should recover the 
boy. All night he lay outside on the bare ground, his 
cheek pillowed on his hand. Suddenly he heard a 
faint sound, far under the earth. He listened in- 
tently : it was the crying of his lost child ! Hastily 
he gathered all his relatives round him, told them 
what he had heard, and besought them piteously to 
dig into the earth and bring back his son. This task 
they hesitated to undertake, but they willingly collected 

285 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
horses and goods in abundance, to be given to any one 
who would venture. 

Two men came forward who claimed to possess 
supernatural powers, and to them was entrusted the 
work of finding the child. The grateful father gave 
them a pipe filled with tobacco, and promised them 
all his possessions if their mission should succeed. 
The two gifted men painted their bodies, one making 
himself quite black, the other yellow. Going to the 
neighbouring river, they plunged into its depths, and 
so arrived at the abode of the Water-god. This being 
and his wife, having no children of their own, had 
adopted the Indian's little son who was supposed to 
have been drowned, and the two men, seeing him alive 
and well, were pleased to think that their task was as 
good as accomplished. 

" The father has sent for his son," they said. " He 
has commanded us to bring him back. We dare not 
return without him." 

"You are too late," responded the Water-god. 
" Had you come before he had eaten of my food he 
might safely have returned with you. But he wished 
to eat, and he has eaten, and now, alas ! he would die 
if he were taken out of the water." ^ 

Sorrowfully the men rose to the surface and carried 
the tidings to the father. 

" Alas ! " they said, " he has eaten in the palace of 
the Water-god. He will die if we bring him home." 

Nevertheless the father persisted in his desire to see 
the child. 

" I must see him," he said, and the two men prepared 
for a second journey, saying : "If you get him back, 
the Water-god will require a white dog in payment." 

The Indian promised to supply the dog. The two 

^ See p. 129, "The Soul's Journey." 
286 




Thev arrued at the abode of the Water-god '' 286 



THE SNAKE-WIFE 

men painted themselves again, the one black, the other 
yellow. Once more they dived through the limpid 
water to the palace of the god. 

"The father must have his child," they said. "This 
time we dare not return without him." 

So the deity gave up the little boy, who was placed 
in his father's arms, dead. At the sight the grief of his 
kindred burst out afresh. However, they did not omit 
to cast a white dog into the river, nor to pay the men 
lavishly, as they had promised. 

Later the parents lost a daughter in the same manner, 
but as she had eaten nothing of the food offered her 
under the water she was brought back alive, on pay- 
ment by her relatives of a tribute to the Water-god of 
four white-haired dogs. 

The Snakc'Wife 

A certain chief advised his son to travel. Idling, he 
pointed out, was not the way to qualify for chieftainship. 

" When I was your age," said he, " I did not sit still. 
There was hard work to be done. And now look at 
me : I have become a great chief." 

" I will go hunting, father,'' said the youth. So his 
father furnished him with good clothing, and had a 
horse saddled for him. 

The young man went off on his expedition, and 
by and by fell in with some elk. Shooting at the 
largest beast, he wounded it but slightly, and as it 
dashed away he spurred his horse after it. In this 
manner they covered a considerable distance, till at 
length the hunter, worn out with thirst and fatigue, 
reined in his steed and dismounted. He wandered 
about in search of water till he was well-nigh spent, 
but after a time he came upon a spring, and imme- 
diately improvised a song of thanksgiving to the deity, 

287 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Wakanda, who had permitted him to find it. His 
rejoicing was somewhat premature, however, for when 
he approached the spring a snake started up from it. 
The youth was badly scared, and retreated to a safe 
distance without drinking. It seemed as though he 
must die of thirst after all. Venturing to look back 
after a time, he saw that the snake had disappeared, 
and very cautiously he returned. Again the snake 
darted from the water, and the thirsty hunter was 
forced to flee. A third return to the spring had no 
happier results, but when his thirst drove him to a 
fourth attempt the youth found, instead of a snake, a 
very beautiful woman. She offered him a drink in a 
small cup, which she replenished as often as he emptied 
it. So struck was he by her grace and beauty that he 
promptly fell in love with her. When it was time for 
him to return home she gave him a ring, saying : 
" When you sit down to eat, place this ring on a seat 
and say, * Come, let us eat,' and I will come to you." 

Having bidden her farewell, the young man turned 
his steps homeward, and when he was once more 
among his kindred he asked that food might be placed 
before him. " Make haste," said he, " for I am very 
hungry." 

Quickly they obeyed him, and set down a variety of 
dishes. When he was alone the youth drew the ring 
from his finger and laid it on a seat. " Come," he 
said, " let us eat." 

Immediately the Snake-woman appeared and joined 
him at his meal. When she had eaten she vanished as 
mysteriously as she had come, and the disconsolate 
husband (for the youth had married her) went out of 
the lodge to seek her. Thinking she might be among 
the women of the village, he said to his father : " Let 
the women dance before me." 
288 



THE RING UNAVAILING 

An old man was deputed to gather the women 
together, but not one of them so much as resembled 
the Snake-woman. 

Again the youth sat down to eat, and repeated the 
formula which his wife had described to him. She ate 
with him as before, and vanished when the meal was 
over. 

" Father," said the young man, " let the very young 
women dance before me." 

But the Snake-woman was not found among them 
either. 

Another fleeting visit from his wife induced the 
chiePs son to make yet another attempt to find her 
in the community. 

" Let the young girls dance," he said. Still the 
mysterious Snake-woman was not found. 

One day a girl overheard voices in the youth's lodge, 
and, peering in, saw a beautiful woman sharing his 
meal. She told the news to the chief, and it soon 
became known that the chief's son was married to a 
beautiful stranger. 

The youth, however, wished to marry a woman of 
his own tribe ; but the maiden's father, having heard 
that the young man was already married, told his 
daughter that she was only being made fun of. 

So the girl had nothing more to do with her wooer, 
who turned for consolation to his ring. He caused 
food to be brought, and placed the ring on a seat. 

The Ring Unavailing 

" Come," he said, " let us eat.'' 

There was no response ; the Snake-woman would 
not appear. 

The youth was greatly disappointed, and made up 
his mind to go in search of his wife. 

289 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

" I am going a-hunting," said he, and again his 
father gave him good clothes and saddled a horse for 
him. 

When he reached the spot where the Snake-woman 
had first met him, he found her trail leading up to the 
spring, and beyond it on the other side. Still follow- 
ing the trail, he saw before him a very dilapidated 
lodge, at the door of which sat an old man in rags. 
The youth felt very sorry for the tattered old -fellow, 
and gave him his fine clothes, in exchange for which 
he received the other's rags. 

" You think you are doing me a good turn," said 
the old man, " but it is I who am going to do you one. 
The woman you seek has gone over the Great Water. 
When you get to the other shore talk with the people 
you shall meet there, and if they do not obey you send 
them away." 

In addition to the tattered garments, the old man 
gave him a hat, a sword, and a lame old horse. 

At the edge of the Great Water the youth prepared 
to cross, while his companion seated himself on the 
shore, closed his eyes, and recited a spell. In a moment 
the young man found himself on the opposite shore. 
Here he found a lodge inhabited by two aged Thunder- 
men, who were apparently given to eating human 
beings. The young stranger made the discovery that 
his hat rendered him invisible, and he was able to move 
unseen among the creatures. Taking oflF his hat for a 
moment, he took the pipe from the lips of a Thunder- 
man and pressed it against the latter's hand. 

"Oh," cried the Thunder-man, " I am burnt ! " 

But the youth had clapped on his hat and dis- 
appeared. 

" It is not well," said the Thunder-man gravely. 
" A stranger has been here and we have let him escape. 
290 



THE FINDING OF THE SNAKE- WIFE 

When our brother returns he will not believe us if we 
tell him the man has vanished." 

Shortly after this another Thunder-man entered with 
the body of a man he had killed. When the brothers 
told him their story he was quite sceptical. 

" If I had been here," said he, " I would not have 
let him escape." 

As he spoke the youth snatched his pipe from him 
and pressed it against the back of his hand. 

" Oh," said the Thunder-man, " I am burnt ! " 

" It was not I," said one brother. 

" It was not I," said the other. 

" It was I," said the youth, pulling off his hat and 
appearing among them. " What were you talking about 
among yourselves .'' Here I am. Do as you said." 

But the Thunder-men were afraid. 

" We were not speaking," they said, and the youth 
put on his hat and vanished. 

"What will our brother say," cried the three in dis- 
may, "when he hears that a man has been here and we 
have not killed him .'' Our brother will surely hate us." 

In a few minutes another Thunder-man came into 
the lodge, carrying the body of a child. He was very 
angry when he heard that they had let a man escape. 

The youth repeated his trick on the new-comer — 
appeared for a moment, then vanished again. The 
fifth and last of the brothers was also deceived in the 
same manner. 

Seeing that the monsters were now thoroughly 
frightened, the young man took off his magic hat and 
talked with them. 

The Finding of the Snake-Wife 

"You do wrong," said he, "to eat men like this. 
You should eat buffaloes, not men. I am going away. 

291 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

When I come back I will visit you, and if you are eat- 
ing buffaloes you shall remain, but if you are eating 
men I shall send you away." 

The Thunder-men promised they would eat only 
buffaloes in future, and the young man went on his 
way to seek for the Snake-woman. When at last he 
came to the village where she dwelt he found she had 
married a man of another tribe, and in a great rage he 
swung the sword the magician had given him and slew 
her, and her husband, and the whole village, after 
which he returned the way he had come. When he 
reached the lodge of the Thunder-men he saw that they 
had not kept their promise to eat only buffaloes. 

" I am going to send you above," he said. " Hitherto 
you have destroyed men, but when I have sent you 
away you shall give them cooling rain to keep them 
alive." 

So he sent them above, where they became the 
thunder-clouds. 

Proceeding on his journey, he again crossed the 
Great Water with a single stride, and related to the 
old wizard all that had happened. 

" I have sent the Thunder-men above, because they 
would not stop eating men. Have I done well ? " 

"Very well." 

" I have killed the whole village where the Snake- 
woman was, because she had taken another husband. 
Have I done well ? " 

" Very well. It was for that I gave you the sword." 

The youth returned to his father, and married a 
very beautiful woman of his own village. 

A Subterranean Adventure 

There lived in a populous village a chief who had 
two sons and one daughter, all of them unmarried. 
292 



A SUBTERRANEAN ADVENTURE 

Both the sons were in the habit of joining the hunters 
when they went to shoot buffaloes, and on one such 
occasion a large animal became separated from the herd. 
One of the chief's sons followed it, and when the pursuit 
had taken him some distance from the rest of the party 
the buffalo suddenly disappeared into a large pit. Before 
they could check themselves man and horse had plunged 
in after him. When the hunters returned the chief 
was greatly disturbed to learn that his son was missing. 
He sent the criers in all directions, and spared no pains 
to get news of the youth. 

" If any person knows the whereabouts of the chiePs 
son," shouted the criers, "let him come and tell." 

This they repeated again and again, till at length 
a young man came forward who had witnessed the 
accident. 

" I was standing on a hill," he said, " and I saw the 
hunters, and I saw the son of the chief. And when he 
was on level ground he disappeared, and I saw him no 
more." 

He led the men of the tribe to the spot, and they 
scattered to look for signs of the youth. They found his 
trail ; they followed it to the pit, and there it stopped. 
They pitched their tents round the chasm, and the 
chief begged his people to descend into it to search 
for his son. 

" If any man among you is brave and stout-hearted," 
he said, "let him enter." 
There was no response. 
" If any one will go I will make him rich." 
Still no one ventured to speak. 

" If any one will go I will give him my daughter in 
marriage." 

There was a stir among the braves and a youth came 

forward. 

V 293 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

" I will go," he said simply. 

Ropes of hide were made by willing hands, and 
secured to a skin shaped to form a sort of bucket. 

After arranging signals with the party at the mouth 
of the pit, the adventurous searcher allowed himself to 
be lowered. Once fairly launched in the Cimmerian 
depths his eyes became accustomed to the darkness, 
and he saw first the buffalo, then the horse, then the 
young brave, quite dead. He put the body of the 
chief's son into the skin bucket, and gave the signal 
for it to be drawn up to the surface. But so great 
was the excitement that when his comrades had drawn 
up the dead man they forgot about the living one still 
in the pit, and hurried away. 

Lost Underground 

By and by the hero got tired of shouting, and 
wandered off into the darkness. 

He had not gone very far when he met an old woman. 
Respectfully addressing her, he told her his story and 
begged her to aid his return to his own counrry. 

" Indeed I cannot help you," she said, " but if you 
will go to the house of the wise man who lives round 
the corner you may get what you want." 

Having followed the direction she had indicated 
with a withered finger, the youth shortly arrived at a 
lodge. Hungry and weary, he knocked somewhat 
impatiently. Receiving no answer, he knocked again, 
still more loudly. This time there was a movement 
inside the lodge, and a woman came to the door. She 
led him inside, where her husband sat dejectedly, not 
even rising to greet the visitor. Sadly the woman told 
him that they were mourning the death of their only 
son. At a word from his wife the husband looked at 
the youth. Eagerly he rose and embraced him. 
294 




^Sla^ 



He emerged in his own couniiy 



29+ 



THE RETURN TO EARTH 

" You are like our lost child," said he. " Come 
and we will make you our son." 

The young brave then told him his story. 

" We shall treat you as our child," said the Wise 
Man. " Whatever you shall ask we will give you, 
even should you desire to leave us and to return to 
your own people." 

Though he was touched by the kindness of the good 
folk, there was yet nothing the youth desired so much 
as to return to his kindred. 

"Give me," said he, "a white horse and a white 
mule." 

The Return to Earth 

The old man bade him go to where the horses were 
hobbled, and there he found what he had asked for. 
He also received from his host a magic piece of iron, 
which would enable him to obtain whatever he desired. 
The rocks even melted away at a touch of this talisman. 
Thus equipped, the adventurer rode off. 

Shortly afterward he emerged in his own country, 
where the first persons he met were the chief and his 
wife, to whom he disclosed his identity, as he was by 
this time very much changed. They were sceptical at 
first, but soon they came to recognize him, and gave 
him a very cordial reception. 

He married the chief's daughter, and was made 
head chieftain by his father-in-law. The people built a 
lodge for him in the centre of the encampment, and 
brought him many valuable presents of clothing and 
horses. On his marriage-day the criers were sent out 
to tell the people that on the following day no one 
must leave the village or do any work. 

On the morrow all the men of the tribe went out to 
hunt buffaloes, and the young chieftain accompanied 

295 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 
them. By means of his magic piece of iron he charmed 
many buffaloes, and slew more than did the others. 

Now it so happened that the chief's remaining son 
was very jealous of his brother-in-law. He thought 
his father should have given him the chieftainship, 
and the honours accorded by the people to his young 
relative were exceedingly galling to him. So he made 
up his mind to kill the youth and destroy his beautiful 
white horse. But the sagacious beast told its master 
that some one was plotting against his life, and, duly 
warned, he watched in the stable every night. 

On the occasion of a second great buffalo hunt the 
wicked schemer found his opportunity. By waving his 
robe he scared the buffaloes and caused them to close 
in on the youth and trample him to death. But when 
the herd had scattered and moved away there was no 
trace of the young brave or of his milk-white steed. 
They had returned to the Underworld. 

"White Feather the Giant'Killer 

There once dwelt in the heart of a great forest an 
old man and his grandchild. So far as he could 
remember, the boy had never seen any human being 
but his grandfather, and though he frequently ques- 
tioned the latter on the subject of his relatives he 
could elicit no information from him. The truth was 
that they had perished at the hands of six great giants. 
The nation to which the boy belonged had wagered 
their children against those of the giants that they 
would beat the latter in a race. Unfortunately the 
giants won, the children of the rash Indians were 
forfeited, and all were slain with the exception of little 
Chacopee, whose grandfather had taken charge of him. 
The child learned to hunt and fish, and seemed quite 
contented and happy. 
296 



WHITE FEATHER THE GIANT-KILLER 

One day the boy wandered away to the edge of 
a prairie, where he found traces of an encampment. 
Returning, he told his grandfather of the ashes and 
tent-poles he had seen, and asked for an explanation. 
Had his grandfather set them there .'' The old man 
responded brusquely that there were no ashes or tent- 
poles : he had merely imagined them. The boy was 
sorely puzzled, but he let the matter drop, and next 
day he followed a different path. Quite suddenly he 
heard a voice addressing him as " Wearer of the White 
Feather." Now there had been a tradition in his tribe 
that a mighty man would arise among them wearing 
a white feather and performing prodigies of valour. 
But of this Chacopee as yet knew nothing, so he could 
only look about him in a startled way. Close by 
him stood a man, which fact was in itself sufficiently 
astonishing to the boy, who had never seen any one 
but his grandfather ; but to his further bewilderment he 
perceived that the man was made of wood from the 
breast downward, only the head being of flesh. 

" You do not wear the white feather yet," the curious 
stranger resumed, " but you will by and by. Go home 
and sleep. You will dream of a pipe, a sack, and a 
large white feather. When you wake you will see 
these things by your side. Put the feather on your 
head and you will become a very great warrior. If 
you want proof, smoke the pipe and you will see the 
smoke turn into pigeons." 

He then proceeded to tell him who his parents 
were, and of the manner in which they had perished, 
and bade him avenge their death on the giants. To 
aid him in the accomplishment of this feat he gave him 
a magic vine which would be invisible to the giants, 
and with which he must trip them up when they ran a 
race with him. 

297 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Chacopee returned home, and everything happened 
as the Man of Wood had predicted. The old grand- 
father was greatly surprised to see a flock of pigeons 
issuing from the lodge, from which Chacopee also 
shortly emerged, wearing on his head a white feather. 
Remembering the prophecy, the old man wept to 
think that he might lose his grandchild. 

In Search of the Giants 

Next morning Chacopee set off in search of the 
giants, whom he found in a very large lodge in the 
centre of the forest. The giants had learned of his 
approach from the * little spirits who carry the news.' 
Among themselves they mocked and scofi^ed at him, 
but outwardly they greeted him with much civility, 
which, however, in nowise deceived him as to their 
true feelings. Without loss of time they arranged 
a race between Chacopee and the youngest giant, the 
winner of which was to cut off the head of the other. 
Chacopee won, with the help of his magic vine, and 
killed his opponent. Next morning he appeared again, 
and decapitated another of his foes. This happened on 
five mornings. On the sixth he set out as usual, but 
was met by the Man of Wood, who informed him 
that on his way to the giants' lodge he would encounter 
the most beautiful woman in the world. 

Chacopee's Downfall 

" Pay no attention to her,*' he said earnestly. " She 
is there for your destruction. When you see her turn 
yourself into an elk, and you will be safe from her 
wiles." 

Chacopee proceeded on his way, and sure enough 
before long he met the most beautiful woman in the 
world. Mindful of the advice he had received, he 
298 





EvervthiuL' happened as the Man of Wood had predicted " 298 



CHACOPEE'S DOWNFALL 

turned himself into an elk, but, instead of passing 
by, the woman, who was really the sixth giant, came 
up to him and reproached him with tears for taking 
the form of an elk when she had travelled so far 
to become his wife. Chacopee was so touched by her 
grief and beauty that he resumed his own shape and 
endeavoured to console her with gentle words and 
caresses. At last he fell asleep with his head in her 
lap. The beautiful woman once more became the 
cruel giant, and, seizing his axe, the monster broke 
Chacopee's back ; then, turning him into a dog, he 
bade him rise and follow him. The white feather 
he stuck in his own head, fancying that magic powers 
accompanied the wearing of it. 

In the path of the travellers there lay a certain 
village in which dwelt two young girls, the daughters 
of a chief. Having heard the prophecy concerning the 
wearer of the white feather, each made up her mind 
that she would marry him when he should appear. 
Therefore, when they saw a man approaching with 
a white feather in his hair the elder ran to meet him, 
invited him into her lodge, and soon after married 
him. The younger, who was gentle and timid, took the 
dog into her home and treated him with great kindness. 

One day while the giant was out hunting he saw the 
dog casting a stone into the water. Immediately the 
stone became a beaver, which the dog caught and 
killed. The giant strove to emulate this feat, and was 
successful, but when he went home and ordered his 
wife to go outside and fetch the beaver only a stone 
lay by the door. Next day he saw the dog plucking a 
withered branch and throwing it on the ground, where 
it became a deer, which the dog slew. The Giant 
performed this magic feat also, but when his wife went 
to the door of the lodge to fetch the deer she saw only 

299 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

a piece of rotten wood. Nevertheless the giant had 
some success in the chase, and his wife repaired to the 
home of her father to tell him what a skilful hunter 
her husband was. She also spoke of the dog that 
lived with her sister, and his skill in the chase. 

The Transformation 

The old chief suspected magic, and sent a deputa- 
tion of youths and maidens to invite his younger 
daughter and her dog to visit him. To the surprise of 
the deputation, no dog was there, but an exceedingly 
handsome warrior. But alas ! Chdcopee could not 
speak. The party set off for the home of the old 
chief, where they were warmly welcomed. 

It was arranged to hold a general meeting, so that 
the wearer of the white feather might show his prowess 
and magical powers. First of all they took the giant's 
pipe (which had belonged to Chacopee), and the war- 
riors smoked it one after the other. When it came to 
Chacopee's turn he signified that the giant should pre- 
cede him. The giant smoked, but to the disappoint- 
ment of the assembly nothing unusual happened. Then 
Chdcopee took the pipe, and as the smoke ascended it 
became a flock of pigeons. At the same moment he 
recovered his speech, and recounted his strange adven- 
tures to the astounded listeners. Their indignation 
against the giant was unbounded, and the chief ordered 
that he should be given the form of a dog and stoned 
to death by the people. 

Chacopee gave a further proof of his right to wear 
the white feather. Calling for a buffalo-hide, he cut it 
into little pieces and strewed it on the prairie. Next 
day he summoned the braves of the tribe to a buffalo- 
hunt, and at no great distance they found a magnificent 
herd. The pieces of hide had become buffaloes. The 
300 



HOW THE RABBIT CAUGHT THE SUN 

people greeted this exhibition of magic art with loud 
acclamations, and Chacopee's reputation was firmly 
established with the tribe. 

Chacopee begged the chiefs permission to take his 
wife on a visit to his grandfather, which was readily- 
granted, and the old man's gratitude and delight more 
than repaid them for the perils of their journey. 

How the Rabbit Caught the Sun 

Once upon a time the Rabbit dwelt in a lodge with 
no one but his grandmother to keep him company. 
Every morning he went hunting very early, but no 
matter how early he was he always noticed that some 
one with a very long foot had been before him and 
had left a trail. The Rabbit resolved to discover the 
identity of the hunter who forestalled him, so one fine 
morning he rose even earlier than usual, in the hope of 
encountering the stranger. But all to no purpose, for 
the mysterious one had gone, leaving behind him, as was 
his wont, the trail of the long foot. 

This irritated the Rabbit profoundly, and he returned 
to the lodge to consult with his grandmother. 

" Grandmother," he grumbled, " although I rise early 
every morning and set my traps in the hope of snaring 
game, some one is always before me and frightens the 
game away. I shall make a snare and catch him." 

"Why should you do so?" replied his grand- 
mother. " In what way has he harmed you ^ " 

" It is sufficient that I hate him," replied the queru- 
lous Rabbit, and departed. He secreted himself among 
the bushes and waited for nightfall. He had provided 
himself with a stout bowstring, which he arranged as a 
trap in the place where the footprints were usually to 
be found. Then he went home, but returned very 
early to examine his snare, 

301 



MYVtiS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

When he arrived at the spot he discovered that he 
had caught the intruder, who was, indeed, no less a 
personage than the Sun. He ran home at the top of 
his speed to acquaint his grandmother with the news. 
He did not know what he had caught, so his grand- 
mother bade him seek the forest once more and find 
out. On returning he saw that the Sun was in a violent 
passion. 

" How dare you snare me ! " he cried angrily. 
" Come hither and untie me at once ! " 

The Rabbit advanced cautiously, and circled round 
him in abject terror. At last he ducked his head and, 
running in, cut the bowstring which secured the Sun 
with his knife. The Sun immediately soared upward, 
and was quickly lost to sight. And the reason why 
the hair between the Rabbit's shoulders is yellow is that 
he was scorched there by the great heat which came 
from the Sun-god when he loosed him. 

How the Rabbit Slew the Devouring Hill 

In the long ago there existed a hill of ogre-like 
propensities which drew people into its mouth and 
devoured them. The Rabbit's grandmother warned 
him not to approach it upon any account. 

But the Rabbit was rash, and the very fact that he 
had been warned against the vicinity made him all the 
more anxious to visit it. So he went to the hill, and 
cried mockingly : " Pahe-Wathahuni, draw me into 
your mouth ! Come, devour me ! " 

But Pahe-Wathahuni knew the Rabbit, so he took 
no notice of him. 

Shortly afterward a hunting-party came that way, 
and Pahe-Wathahuni opened his mouth, so that they 
took it to be a great cavern, and entered. The Rabbit, 
waiting his chance, pressed in behind them. But when 
30Z 




'■* Once more the Rabbit entered, disguised as a man '' 302 



THE RABBIT AND THE DEVOURING HILL 

he reached Pahe-Wathahuni's stomach the monster felt 
that something disagreed with him, and he vomited the 
Rabbit up. 

Later in the day another hunting-party appeared, 
and Pahe-Wathahuni again opened his capacious gullet. 
The hunters entered unwittingly, and were devoured. 
And once more the Rabbit entered, disguised as a man 
by magic art. This time the cannibal hill did not eject 
him. Imprisoned in the monster's entrails, he saw in 
the distance the whitened bones of folk who had been 
devoured, the still undigested bodies of others, and 
some who were yet alive. 

Mocking Pahe-Wathahuni, the Rabbit said : " Why 
do you not eat ? You should have eaten that very 
fat heart." And, seizing his knife, he made as if to 
devour it. At this Pahe-Wathahuni set up a dismal 
howling ; but the Rabbit merely mocked him, and slit 
the heart In twain. At this the hill split asunder, and 
all the folk who had been Imprisoned within it went 
out again, stretched their arms to the blue sky, and 
hailed the Rabbit as their deliverer ; for It was JPahe- 
Wathahuni's heart that had been sundered. 

The people gathered together and said: "Let us 
make the Rabbit chief" But he mocked them and 
told them to be gone, that all he desired was the heap 
of fat the hill had concealed within its entrails, which 
would serve him and his old grandmother for food for 
many a day. With that the Rabbit went homeward, 
carrying the fat on his back, and he and his grand- 
mother rejoiced exceedingly and were never in want 
again. 



303 



CHAPTER VI : MYTHS AND LEGENDS 
OF THE PAWNEES 

The Pawnees, or Caddoan Indians 

THE Caddoan stock, the principal representatives 
of which are the Pawnees, are now settled in 
Oklahoma and North Dakota. From the earliest 
period they seem to have been cultivators of the soil, as 
well as hunters, and skilled In the arts of weaving and 
pottery-making. They possessed an elaborate form 
of religious ceremonial. The following myths well 
exemplify how strongly the Pawnee was gifted with 
the religious sense. 

The Sacfed Bundle 

A certain young man was very vain of his personal 
appearance, and always wore the finest clothes and 
richest adornments he could procure. Among other 
possessions he had a down feather of an eagle, which 
he wore on his head when he went to war, and which 
possessed magical properties. He was unmarried, and 
cared nothing for women, though doubtless there was 
more than one maiden of the village who would not 
have disdained the hand of the young hunter, for 
he was as brave and good-natured as he was hand- 
some. 

One day while he was out hunting with his com- 
panions — the Indians hunted on foot In those days — 
he got separated from the others, and followed some 
buffaloes for a considerable distance. The animals 
managed to escape, with the exception of a young cow, 
which had become stranded In a mud-hole. The youth 
fitted an arrow to his bow, and was about to fire, 
when he saw that the buffalo had vanished and only a 
young and pretty woman was In sight. The hunter was 
304 



THE SACRED BUNDLE 

rather perplexed, for he could not understand where 
the animal had gone to, nor where the woman had 
come from. However, he talked to the maiden, and 
found her so agreeable that he proposed to marry her 
and return with her to his tribe. She consented to 
marry him, but only on condition that they remained 
where they were. To this he agreed, and gave her as 
a wedding gift a string of blue and white beads he wore 
round his neck. 

One evening when he returned home after a day's 
hunting he found that his camp was gone, and all 
round about were the marks of many hoofs. No 
trace of his wife's body could he discover, and at last, 
mourning her bitterly, he returned to his tribe. 

Years elapsed, and one summer morning as he was 
playing the stick game with his friends a little boy 
came toward him, wearing round his neck a string of 
blue and white beads. 

"Father," he said, "mother wants you." 

The hunter was annoyed at the interruption. 

" I am not your father," he replied. " Go away." 

The boy went away, and the man's companions 
laughed at him when they heard him addressed as 
' father,' for they knew he was a woman-hater and 
unmarried. 

However, the boy returned in a little while. He 
was sent away again by the angry hunter, but one of 
the players now suggested that he should accompany 
the child and see what he wanted. All the time the 
hunter had been wondering where he had seen the 
beads before. As he reflected he saw a buffalo cow 
and calf running across the prairie, and suddenly he 
remembered. 

Taking his bow and arrows, he followed the buffaloes, 
whom he now recognized as his wife and child. A 

305 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

long and wearisome journey they had. The woman 
was angry with her husband, and dried up every creek 
they came to, so that he feared he would die of thirst, 
but the strategy of his son obtained food and drink for 
him until they arrived at the home of the buffaloes. The 
big bulls, the leaders of the herd, were very angry, and 
threatened to kill him. First, however, they gave him 
a test, telling him that if he accomplished it he should 
live. Six cows, all exactly alike, were placed in a row, 
and he was told that if he could point out his wife his life 
would be spared. His son helped him secretly, and 
he succeeded. The old bulls were surprised, and much 
annoyed, for they had not expected him to distinguish 
his wife from the other cows. They gave him another 
test. He was requested to pick out his son from among 
several calves. Again the young buffalo helped him 
to perform the feat. Not yet satisfied, they decreed 
that he must run a race. If he should win they would 
let him go. They chose their fastest runners, but on 
the day set for the race a thin coating of ice covered the 
ground, and the buffaloes could not run at all, while the 
young Indian ran swiftly and steadily, and won with 
ease. 

The Magic Feather 

The chief bulls were still angry, however, and de- 
termined that they would kill him, even though he 
had passed their tests. So they made him sit on the 
ground, all the strongest and fiercest bulls round him. 
Together they rushed at him, and in a little while his 
feather was seen floating in the air. The chief bulls 
called on the others to stop, for they were sure that he 
must be trampled to pieces by this time. But when 
they drew back there sat the Indian in the centre of the 
circle, with his feather in his hair. 
306 



THE MAGIC FEATHER 

It was, in fact, his magic feather to which he owed 
his escape, and a second rush which the buffaloes made 
had as little effect on him. Seeing that he was possessed 
of magical powers, the buffaloes made the best of matters 
and welcomed him into their camp, on condition that 
he would bring them gifts from his tribe. This he 
agreed to do. 

When the Indian returned with his wife and son to 
the village people they found that there was no food 
to be had ; but the buffalo-wife produced some meat 
from under her robe, and they ate of it. Afterward 
they went back to the herd with gifts, which pleased the 
buffaloes greatly. The chief bulls, knowing that the 
people were in want of food, offered to return with 
the hunter. His son, who also wished to return, 
arranged to accompany the herd in the form of a buffalo, 
while his parents went ahead in human shape. The 
father warned the people that they must not kill his 
son when they went to hunt buffaloes, for, he said, the 
yellow calf would always return leading more buffaloes. 

By and by the child came to his father saying that he 
would no more visit the camp in the form of a boy, 
as he was about to lead the herd eastward. Ere he 
went he told his father that when the hunters sought 
the chase they should kill the yellow calf and sacrifice 
it to Atius Tirawa, tan its hide, and wrap in the skin 
an ear of corn and other sacred things. Every year 
they should look out for another yellow calf, sacrifice 
it, and keep a piece of its fat to add to the bundle. 
Then when food was scarce and famine threatened the 
tribe the chiefs should gather in council and pay a 
friendly visit to the young buffalo, and he would tell 
Tirawa of their need, so that another yellow calf might 
be sent to lead the herd to the people. 

When he had said this the boy left the camp. All 

307 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

was done as he had ordered. Food became plentiful, 
and the father became a chief, greatly respected by his 
people. His buffalo-wife, however, he almost forgot, 
and one night she vanished. So distressed was the 
chief, and so remorseful for his neglect of her, that he 
never recovered, but withered away and died. But the 
sacred bundle was long preserved in the tribe as a 
magic charm to bring the buffalo. 

Their sacred bundles were most precious to the 
Indians, and were guarded religiously. In times of 
famine they were opened by the priests with much 
ceremony. The above story is given to explain the 
origin of that belonging to the Pawnee tribe. 

The Beaf'Man 

There was once a boy of the Pawnee tribe who 
imitated the ways of a bear ; and, indeed, he much 
resembled that animal. When he played with the 
other boys of his village he would pretend to be a 
bear, and even when he grew up he would often tell his 
companions laughingly that he could turn himself into 
a bear whenever he liked. 

His resemblance to the animal came about in this 
manner. Before the boy was born his father had gone 
on the war-path, and at some distance from his home 
had come upon a tiny bear-cub. The little creature 
looked at him so wistfully and was so small and help- 
less that he could not pass by without taking notice of 
it. So he stooped and picked it up in his arms, tied 
some Indian tobacco round its neck, and said : " I 
know that the Great Spirit, Tirawa, will care for you, 
but I cannot go on my way without putting these 
things round your neck to show that I feel kindly 
toward you. I hope that the animals will take care 
of my son when he is born, and help him to grow up 
308 



THE BEAR^MAN SLAIN 

a great and wise man." With that he went on his 
way. 

On his return he told his wife of his encounter with 
the Little Bear, told her how he had taken it in his arms 
and looked at it and talked to it. Now there is an 
Indian superstition that a woman, before a child is born, 
must not look fixedly at or think much about any 
animal, or the infant will resemble it. So when the 
warrior's boy was born he was found to have the ways 
of a bear, and to become more and more like that animal 
the older he grew. The boy, quite aware of the resem- 
blance, often went away by himself into the forest, where 
he used to pray to the Bear. 

The Beaf'Man Slain 

On one occasion, when he was quite grown up, he 
accompanied a war party of the Pawnees as their chief. 
They travelled a considerable distance, but ere they 
arrived at any village they fell into a trap prepared for 
them by their enemies, the Sioux. Taken completely 
off their guard, the Pawnees, to the number of about 
forty, were slain to a man. The part of the country in 
which this incident took place was rocky and cedar- 
clad and harboured many bears, and the bodies of the 
dead Pawnees lay in a ravine in the path of these ani- 
mals. When they came to the body of the Bear-man a 
she-bear instantly recognized it as that of their bene- 
factor, who had sacrificed smokes to them, made songs 
about them, and done them many a good turn during 
his lifetime. She called to her companion and begged 
him to do something to bring the Bear-man to life 
again. The other protested that he could do nothing. 
"Nevertheless," he added, "I will try. If the sun 
were shining 1 might succeed, but when it is dark and 
cloudy I am powerless." 

X 309 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Resuscitation of the Bear-Man 

The sun was shining but fitfully that day, however. 
Long intervals of gloom succeeded each gleam of sun- 
light. But the two bears set about collecting the 
remains of the Bear-man, who was indeed sadly muti- 
lated, and, lying down on his body, they worked 
over him with their magic medicine till he showed 
signs of returning life. At length he fully regained 
consciousness, and, finding himself in the presence of 
two bears, was at a loss to know what had happened 
to him. But the animals related how they had brought 
him to life, and the sight of his dead comrades lying 
around him recalled what had gone before. Gratefully 
acknowledging the service the bears had done him, he 
accompanied them to their den. He was still very 
weak, and frequently fainted, but ere long he recovered 
his strength and was as well as ever, only he had no 
hair on his head, for the Sioux had scalped him. During 
his sojourn with the bears he was taught all the things 
that they knew — which was a great deal, for all Indians 
know that the bear is one of the wisest of animals. How- 
ever, his host begged him not to regard the wonderful 
things he did as the outcome of his own strength, but 
to give thanks to Tirawa, who had made the bears and 
had given them their wisdom and greatness. Finally 
he told the Bear-man to return to his people, where he 
would become a very great man, great in war and in 
wealth. But at the same time he must not forget the 
bears, nor cease to imitate them, for on that would 
depend much of his success. 

" I shall look after you," he concluded. " If I die, 
you shall die ; if I grow old, you shall grow old along 
with me. This tree " — pointing to a cedar — " shall be 
a protector to you. It never becomes old ; it is always 
310 



THE RESUSCITATION OF THE BEAR-MAN 

fresh and beautiful, the gift of Tirawa. And if a 
thunderstorm should come while you are at home throw 
some cedar-wood on the fire and you will be safe." 

Giving him a bear-skin cap to hide his hairless scalp, 
the Bear then bade him depart. 

Arrived at his home, the young man was greeted with 
amazement, for it was thought that he had perished 
with the rest of the war party. But when he con- 
vinced his parents that it was indeed their son who 
visited them, they received him joyfully. When he 
had embraced his friends and had been congratulated 
by them on his return, he told them of the bears, who 
were waiting outside the village. Taking presents of 
Indian tobacco, sweet-smelling clay, buffalo-meat, and 
beads, he returned to them, and again talked with the 
he-bear. The latter hugged him, saying : " As my 
fur has touched you, you will be great ; as my hands 
have touched your hands, you will be fearless ; and as 
my mouth touches your mouth, you will be wise." 
With that the bears departed. 

True to his words, the animal made the Bear-man 
the greatest warrior of his tribe. He was the originator 
of the Bear Dance, which the Pawnees still practise. 
He lived to an advanced age, greatly honoured by his 
people. 



311 



CHAPTER VII : MYTHS AND LEGENDS 
OF THE NORTHERN AND NORTH. 
WESTERN INDIANS 

Haida Demi-Gods 

THERE is a curious Haida story told of the 
origin of certain supernatural people, who are 
supposed to speak through the shamans, or 
medicine-men, and of how they got their names. 

Ten brothers went out to hunt with their dogs. 
While they were climbing a steep rocky mountain a 
thick mist enveloped them, and they were compelled to 
remain on the heights. By and by they made a fire, 
and the youngest, who was full of mischief, cast his 
bow in it. When the bow was burnt the hunters were 
astonished to see it on the level ground below. The 
mischievous brother thereupon announced his inten- 
tion of following his weapon, and by the same means. 
Though the others tried hard to dissuade him, he 
threw himself on the blazing fire, and was quickly 
consumed. His brothers then beheld him on the 
plain vigorously exhorting them to follow his example. 
One by one they did so, some boldly, some timorously, 
but all found themselves at last on the level ground. 

As the brothers travelled on they heard a wren 
chirping, and they saw that one of their number had 
a blue hole in his heart. Farther on they found a 
hawk's feather, which they tied in the hair of the 
youngest. They came at length to a deserted village 
on the shores of an inlet, and took possession of one of 
the huts. For food they ate some mussels, and having 
satisfied their hunger they set out to explore the settle- 
ment. Nothing rewarded their search but an old canoe, 
moss-grown and covered with nettles. When they had 
removed the weeds and scraped off the moss they 
312 



HAIDA DEMI-GODS 

repaired it, and the mischievous one who had led them 
into the fire made a bark bailer for it, on which he 
carved the representation of a bird. Another, who had 
in his hair a bunch of feathers, took a pole and jumped 
into the canoe. The rest followed, and the canoe slid 
away from the shore. Soon they came in sight of a 
village where a shaman was performing. 

Attracted by the noise and the glow of the fire, the 
warrior at the bow stepped ashore and advanced to see 
what was going on. "Now," he heard the shaman say, 
" the chief Supernatural-being-who-keeps-the-bow-ofF is 
coming: ashore." The Indian was ashamed to hear 
himself thus mistakenly, as he thought, referred to as a 
supernatural being, and returned to the canoe. The 
next one advanced to the village. " Chief Hawk-hole is 
coming ashore," said the shaman. The Indian saw the 
blue hole at his heart, and he also was ashamed, and 
returned to his brothers. The third was named Super- 
natural-being-on-whom-the-daylight-rests, the fourth 
Supernatural-being-on-the-water-on-whom-is-sunshine, 
the fifth Supernatural-puffin-on-the-water, the sixth 
Hawk-with-one-feather-sticking-out-of-the-water, the 
seventh Wearing-clouds-around-his-neck, the eighth 
Supernatural-being-with-the-big-eyes, the ninth Super- 
natural-being-lying-on-his-back-in-the-canoe, and the 
eldest, and last. Supernatural- being-half-of- whose- 
words-are-raven. Each as he heard his name pronounced 
returned to the canoe. When they had all heard the 
shaman, and were assembled once more, the eldest 
brother said, " We have indeed become supernatural 
people," which was quite true, for by burning themselves 
in the fire they had reached the Land of Souls. ^ 

^ This myth would appear to explain the fancied resemblance 
between smoke and the shadowy or vaporous substance of which spirits 
or ghosts are supposed to be composed. 

313 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Supernatural Sister 

The ten brothers floated round the coast till they 
reached another village. Here they took on board a 
woman whose arms had been accidentally burned by 
her husband, who mistook them for the arms of some 
one embracing his wife. The woman was severely 
burned and was in great distress. The supernatural 
brothers made a crack in the bottom of the canoe 
and told the woman to place her hands in it. Her 
wounds were immediately healed. They called her 
their sister, and seated her in the canoe to bail out the 
water. When they came to the DJD, the stream near 
which dwelt Fine-weather-woman,^ the latter came and 
talked to them, repeating the names which the shaman 
had given them, and calling their sister Supernatural- 
woman-who-does-the-bailing. 

" Paddle to the island you see in the distance," she 
added. " The wizard who lives there is he who paints 
those who are to become supernatural beings. Go 
to him and he will paint you. Dance four nights in 
your canoe and you will be finished." 

They did as she bade them, and the wizard dressed 
them in a manner becoming to their position as super- 
natural beings. He gave them dancing hats, dancing 
skirts, and puffin-beak rattles, and drew a cloud over 
the outside of their canoe. 

The Birth of Sin 

The Haida of British Columbia and the Queen 
Charlotte Islands possess a striking myth relating to 
the incarnation of the Sky-god, their principal deity. 
The daughter of a certain chief went one day to dig in 
the beach. After she had worked some time she dug 

^ See page 316. 
314 



THE BIRTH OF SIN 

up a cockle-shell. She was about to throw it to one 
side when she thought she heard a sound coming from 
it like that of a child crying. Examining the shell, she 
found a small baby inside. She carried it home and 
wrapped it in a warm covering, and tended it so care- 
fully that it grew rapidly and soon began to walk. 

She was sitting beside the child one day when he 
made a movement with his hand as if imitating the 
drawing of a bowstring, so to please him she took a 
copper bracelet from her arm and hammered it into the 
shape of a bow, which she strung and gave him along 
with two arrows. He was delighted with the tiny 
weapon, and immediately set out to hunt small game 
with it. Every day he returned to his foster-mothei 
with some trophy of his skill. One day it was a goose, 
another a woodpecker, and another a blue jay. 

One morning he awoke to find himself and his 
mother in a fine new house, with gorgeous door-posts 
splendidly carved and illuminated in rich reds, blues, 
and greens. The carpenter who had raised this fine 
building married his mother, and was very kind to him. 
He took the boy down to the sea-shore, and caused 
him to sit with his face looking toward the expanse 
of the Pacific. And so long as the lad looked across 
the boundless blue there was fair weather. 

His father used to go fishing, and one day Sifi — for 
such was the boy's name — expressed a wish to accom- 
pany him. They obtained devil-fish for bait, and pro- 
ceeded to the fishing-ground, where the lad instructed 
his father to pronounce certain magical formulae, the 
result of which was that their fishing-line was violently 
agitated and their canoe pulled round an adjacent island 
three times. When the disturbance stopped at last they 
pulled in the line and dragged out a monster covered 
with piles of halibut. 

315 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

One day Sin went out wearing a wren-skin. His 
mother beheld him rise in stature until he soared 
above her and brooded like a bank of shining clouds 
over the ocean. Then he descended and donned the 
skin of a blue jay. Again he rose over the sea, and 
shone resplendently. Once more he soared upward, 
wearing the skin of a woodpecker, and the waves 
reflected a colour as of fire. 

Then he said : " Mother, I shall see you no more. 
I am going away from you. When the sky looks like 
my face painted by my father there will be no wind. 
Then the fishing will be good." 

His mother bade him farewell, sadly, yet with the 
proud knowledge that she had nurtured a divinity. 
But her sorrow increased when her husband intimated 
that it was time for him to depart as well. Her super- 
natural son and husband, however, left her a portion 
of their power. For when she sits by the inlet and 
loosens her robe the wind scurries down between the 
banks and the waves are ruffled with tempest; and the 
more she loosens the garment the greater is the storm. 
They call her in the Indian tongue Fine-weather-woman. 
But she dwells mostly in the winds, and when the cold 
morning airs draw up from the sea landward she 
makes an offering of feathers to her glorious son. The 
feathers are flakes of snow, and they serve to remind 
him that the world is weary for a glimpse of his golden 
face. 

Mastct-'Carpenter and South'East 

A Haida myth relates how Master-carpenter, a 
supernatural being, went to war with South-east (the 
south-east wind) at Sqa-i, the town lying farthest south 
on the Queen Charlotte Islands. The south-east wind 
is particularly rude and boisterous on that coast, and it 
316 




" He seized hold of the hair '' 



316 



MASTER-CARPENTER AND SOUTH-EAST 

was with the intention of punishing him for his violence 
that Master-carpenter challenged him. First of all, 
however, he set about building a canoe for himself. 
The first one he made split, and he was obliged to 
throw it away. The second also split, notwithstanding 
the fact that he had made it stouter than the other. 
Another and another he built, making each one stronger 
than the last, but every attempt ended in failure, and at 
last, exceedingly vexed at his unskilfulncss, he was on 
the point of giving the task up. He would have done 
so, indeed, but for the intervention of Greatest Fool. 
Hitherto Master-carpenter had been trying to form 
two canoes from one log by means of wedges. (Greatest 
Fool stood watching him for a time, amused at his 
clumsiness, and finally showed him that he ought to 
use bent wedges. And though he was perhaps the 
last person from whom Master-carpenter might expect 
to learn anything, the unsuccessful builder of canoes 
adopted the suggestion, with the happiest results. 
When at length he was satisfied that he had made a 
good canoe he let it down into the water, and sailed 
off in search of South-east. 

By and by he floated right down to his enemy's 
abode, and when he judged himself to be above it he 
rose in the canoe and flung out a challenge. There 
was no reply. Again he called, and this time a rapid 
current began to float past him, bearing on its surface 
a quantity of seaweed. The shrewd Master-carpenter 
fancied he saw the matted hair of his enemy floating 
among the seaweed. He seized hold of it, and after 
it came South-east. The latter in a great passion 
began to call on his nephews to help him. The first 
to be summoned was Red-storm-cloud. Immediately 
a deep red suffused the sky. Then the stormy tints 
died away, and the wind rose with a harsh murmur. 

317 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

When this wind had reached its full strength another 
was summoned, Taker-off-of-the-tree-tops. The blast 
increased to a hurricane, and the tree-tops were blown 
off and carried away and fell thickly about the canoe, 
where Master-carpenter was making use of his magic 
arts to protect himself. Again another wind was called 
up, Pebble-rattler, who set the stones and sand flying 
about as he shrieked in answer to the summons. 
Maker-of-the-thick-sea-mist came next, the spirit of 
the fog which strikes terror into the hearts of those 
at sea, and he was followed by a numerous band of 
other nephews, each more to be dreaded than the last. 
Finally Tidal-wave came and covered Master-carpenter 
with water, so that he was obliged to give in. Relin- 
quishing his hold on South-east, he managed to struggle 
to the shore. It was said by some that South-east 
died, but the shamans^ who ought to know, say that he 
returned to his own place. 

South-east's mother was named To-morrow, and the 
Indians say that if they utter that word they will have 
bad weather, for South-east does not like to hear his 
mother's name used by any one else. 

The Beaver and the Porcupine 

This is the tale of a feud between the beavers and 
the porcupines. Beaver had laid in a plentiful store of 
food, but Porcupine had failed to do so, and one day 
when the former was out hunting the latter went to his 
lodge and stole his provision. When Beaver returned 
he found that his food was gone, and he questioned 
Porcupine about the matter. 

"Did you steal my food ? " he asked. 

"No," answered Porcupine. "One cannot steal food 
from supernatural beings, and you and I both possess 
supernatural powers." 
318 



THE BEAVER AND THE PORCUPINE 

Of course this was mere bluff on the part of 
Porcupine, and it in nowise deceived his companion. 

** You stole my food ! " said Beaver angrily, and 
he tried to seize Porcupine with his teeth. But the 
sharp spines of the latter disconcerted him, though 
he was not easily repulsed. For a time he fought 
furiously, but at length he was forced to retreat, with 
his face covered with quills from his spiny adversary. 
His friends and relatives greeted him sympathetically. 
His father summoned all the Beaver People, told them 
of the injuries his son had received, and bade them 
avenge the honour of their clan. The people at once 
repaired to the abode of Porcupine, who, from the 
fancied security of his lodge, heaped insults and abuse 
on them. The indignant Beaver People pulled his 
house down about his ears, seized him, and carried 
him, in spite of his threats and protests, to a desolate 
island, where they left him to starve. 

It seemed to Porcupine that he had not long to live. 
Nothing grew on the island save two trees, neither 
of which was edible, and there was no other food 
within reach. He called loudly to his friends to come 
to his assistance, but there was no answer. In vain he 
summoned all the animals who were related to him. 
His cries never reached them. 

When he had quite given up hope he fancied he 
heard something whisper to him : " Call upon Cold- 
weather, call upon North-wind." At first he did not 
understand, but thought his imagination must be play- 
ing tricks with him. Again the voice whispered to 
him : "Sing North songs, and you will be saved." 
Wondering much, but with hope rising in his breast. 
Porcupine did as he was bidden, and raised his voice 
in the North songs. " Let the cold weather come," 
he sang, " let the water be smooth." 

319 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Finding of Porcupine 

After a time the weather became very cold, a strong 
wind blew from the north, and the water became 
smooth with a layer of ice. When it was sufficiently 
frozen to bear the weight of the Porcupine People they 
crossed over to the island in search of their brother. 
They were greatly rejoiced to see him, but found him 
so weak that he could hardly walk, and he had to be 
carried to his father's lodge. 

When they wanted to know why Beaver had treated 
him so cruelly he replied that it was because he had 
eaten Beaver's food. The Porcupine People, thinking 
this a small excuse, were greatly incensed against the 
beavers, and immediately declared war on them. But 
the latter were generally victorious, and the war by 
and by came to an inglorious end for the porcupines. 
The spiny tribe still, however, imagined that they had a 
grievance against Beaver, and plotted to take his life. 
They carried him to the top of a tall tree, thinking that 
as the beavers could not climb he would be in the same 
plight as their brother had been on the island. But 
by the simple expedient of eating the tree downward 
from the top Beaver was enabled to return to his 
home. 

The Devil'Fish's Daughter 

A Haida Indian was sailing in his canoe with his 
two children and his wife at low tide. They had been 
paddling for some time, when they came to a place 
where some devil-fish stones lay, and they could 
discern the devil-fish's tracks and see where its food 
was lying piled up. The man, who was a shaman^ 
landed upon the rocks with the intention of finding 
and killing the devil-fish, but while he was searching 
320 



THE DEVIL^FISH'S DAUGHTER 

for it the monster suddenly emerged from its hole and 
dragged him through the aperture into its den. His 
wife and children, believing him to be dead, paddled 
away. 

The monster which had seized the man was a 
female devil-fish, and she dragged him far below into 
the precincts of the town where dwelt her father, the 
devil-fish chief, and there he married the devil-fish 
which had captured him. Many years passed, and at 
length the man became home-sick and greatly desired 
to see his wife and family once more. He begged the 
chief to let him go, and after some demur his request 
was granted. 

The shaman departed in one canoe, and his wife, the 
devil-fish's daughter, in another. The canoes were 
magical, and sped along of themselves. Soon they 
reached his father's town by the aid of the enchanted 
craft. He had brought much wealth with him from 
the devil-fish kingdom, and with this he traded and 
became a great chief. Then his children found him 
and came to him. They were grown up, and to cele- 
brate his home-coming he held a great feast. Five 
great feasts he held, one after another, and at each of 
them his children and his human wife were present. 

But the devil-fish wife began to pine for the sea-life. 
One day while her husband and she sat in his father's 
house he began to melt. At the same time the devil- 
fish wife disappeared betwixt the planks of the floor- 
ing. Her husband then assumed the devil-fish form, 
and a second soft, slimy body followed the first through 
the planks. The devil-fish wife and her husband had 
returned to her father's realm. 

This myth, of course, approximates to those of the 
seal-wives who escape from their mortal husbands, and 
the swan- and other bird-brides who, pining for their 

321 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

natural environment, take wing one fine day and leave 
their earth-mates. 

Chinook Tales 

The Chinooks formerly dwelt on Columbia River, 
from the Dalles to Its mouth, and on the Lower 
Willamette. With the exception of a few individuals, 
they are now extinct, but their myths have been success- 
fully collected and preserved. They were the natives 
of the north-west coast, cunning In bargaining, yet 
dwelling on a communal plan. Their chief physical 
characteristic was a high and narrow forehead artificially 
flattened. Concerning this people Professor Daniel 
Wilson says : 

" The Chinooks are among the most remarkable 
of the flat-headed Indians, and carry the process of 
cranial distortion to the greatest excess. They are In 
some respects a superior race, making slaves of other 
tribes, and evincing considerable skill in such arts as 
are required in their wild forest and coast life. Their 
chief war-Implements are bows and arrows, the former 
made from the yew-tree, and the latter feathered and 
pointed with bone. Their canoes are hollowed out of 
the trunk of the cedar-tree, which attains to a great 
size in that region, and are frequently ornamented with 
much taste and skill. In such a canoe the dead 
Chinook chief Is deposited, surrounded with all the 
requisites for war, or the favourite occupations of life : 
presenting a correspondence in his sepulchral rites to 
the ancient pagan viking, who, as appears alike from 
the contents of the Scandinavian Skibssaelninger and 
from the narratives of the sagas, was interred or con- 
sumed In his war-galley, and the form of that favourite 
scene of ocean triumphs perpetuated in the earth-work 
that covered his ashes." 
322 



THE STORY OF BLUE JAY AND lOI 

The Story of Blue Jay and loi 

The Chinooks tell many stories of Blue Jay, the 
tricky, mischievous totem-bird, and among these tales 
there are three which are concerned with his sister loi. 
Blue Jay, whose disposition resembled that of the bird 
he symbolized, delighted in tormenting loi by delibe- 
rately misinterpreting her commands, and by repeating 
at every opportunity his favourite phrase, " loi is always 
telling lies." 

In the first of the trilogy loi requested her brother 
to take a wife from among the dead, to help her with 
her work in house and field. To this Blue Jay readily 
assented, and he took for his spouse a chieftain's 
daughter who had been recently buried. But loi's 
request that his wife should be an old one he dis- 
regarded. 

"Take her to the Land of the Supernatural People," 
said loi, when she had seen her brother's bride, " and 
they will restore her to life." 

Blue Jay set out on his errand, and after a day's 
journey arrived with his wife at a town inhabited by 
the Supernatural Folk. 

" How long has she been dead ? " they asked him, 
when he stated his purpose in visiting them. 

"A day," he replied. 

The Supernatural People shook their heads. 

"We cannot help you," said they. "You must 
travel to the town where people are restored who have 
been dead for a day." 

Blue Jay obediently resumed his journey, and at the 
end of another day he reached the town to which he 
had been directed, and told its inhabitants why he had 
come. 

"How long has she been dead ? " they asked. 

323 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

"Two days," said he. 

" Then we can do nothing," replied the Super- 
natural Folk, " for we can only restore people who 
have been dead one day. However, you can go to 
the town where those are brought to life who have 
been dead two days." 

Another day's journey brought Blue Jay and his 
wife to the third town. Again he found himself a day 
late, and was directed to a fourth town, and from that 
one to yet another. At the fifth town, however, the 
Supernatural People took pity on him, and recovered 
his wife from death. Blue Jay they made a chieftain 
among them, and conferred many honours upon him. 

After a time he got tired of living in state among 
the Supernatural People, and returned home. 

When he was once more among his kindred his 
young brother-in-law, the chief's son, learnt that his 
sister was alive and married to Blue Jay. 

Hastily the boy carried the news to his father, the 
old chief, who sent a message to Blue Jay demanding 
his hair in payment for his wife. The messenger 
received no reply, and the angry chief gathered his 
people round him and led them to Blue Jay's lodge. 
On their approach Blue Jay turned himself into a bird 
and flew away, while his wife swooned. All the efforts 
of her kindred could not bring the woman round, and 
they called on her husband to return. It was in vain, 
however : Blue Jay would not come back, and his wife 
journeyed finally to the Land of Souls. 

The Marriage of loi 

The second portion of the trilogy relates how the 
Ghost-people, setting out one night from the Shadow- 
land to buy a wife, took loi, the sister of Blue Jay, who 
disappeared before morning. After a year had elapsed 
324 




A Fishing Expedition in Shadow-land 



324 



A FISHING EXPEDITION IN SHADOW-LAND 

her brother decided to go in search of her. But though 
he inquired the way to the Ghost-country from all 
manner of birds and beasts, he got a satisfactory answer 
from none of them, and would never have arrived at 
his destination at all had he not been carried thither 
at last by supernatural means. 

In the Ghost-country he found his sister, surrounded 
by heaps of bones, which she introduced to him as his 
relatives by marriage. At certain times these relics 
would attain a semblance of humanity, but instantly 
became bones again at the sound of a loud voice. 

A Fishing Expedition in Shadow'Iand 

At his sister's request Blue Jay went fishing with his 
young brother-in-law. Finding that when he spoke in a 
loud tone he caused the boy to become a heap of bones 
in the canoe, Blue Jay took a malicious pleasure in 
reducing him to that condition. It was just the sort 
of trick he loved to play. 

The fish they caught were nothing more than leaves 
and branches, and Blue Jay, in disgust, threw them back 
into the water. But, to his chagrin, when he returned 
his sister told him that they were really fish, and that 
he ought not to have flung them away. However, 
he consoled himself with the reflection, " loi is always 
telling lies." 

Besides teasing loi, he played many pranks on the 
inoffensive Ghosts. Sometimes he would put the skull 
of a child on the shoulders of a man, and vice versa, 
and take a mischievous delight in the ludicrous result 
when they came 'alive.' 

On one occasion, when the prairies were on fire, 
loi bade her brother extinguish the flames. For this 
purpose she gave him five buckets of water, warning 
him that he must not pour it on the burning prairies 

Y 325 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

until he came to the fourth of them. Blue Jay dis- 
obeyed her, as he was wont to do, and with dire 
results, for when he reached the fifth prairie he found 
he had no water to pour on it. While endeavour- 
ing to beat out the flames he was so seriously 
burned that he died, and returned to the Ghosts as 
one of themselves, but without losing his mischievous 
propensities. 

Blue Jay and loi Go Visiting 

The third tale of the trilogy tells how Blue Jay and 
loi went to visit their friends. The Magpie was the 
first to receive the visitors, and by means of magic he 
provided food for them. Putting a salmon egg into 
a kettle of boiling water, he placed the kettle on the 
fire, and immediately it was full of salmon eggs, so that 
when they had eaten enough Blue Jay and loi were able 
to carry a number away. 

On the following day the Magpie i called for the kettle 
they had borrowed. Blue Jay tried to entertain his visitor 
in the same magical fashion as the latter had enter- 
tained him. But his attempt was so ludicrous that the 
Magpie could not help laughing at him. 

The pair's next visit was to the Duck, who obtained 
food for them by making her children dive for trout. 
Again there was twice as much as they could eat, and 
Blue Jay and loi carried away the remainder on a 
mat. During the return visit of the Duck Blue Jay 
tried to emulate this feat also, using loi's children 
instead of the ducklings. His attempt was again un- 
successful. 

The two visited in turn the Black Bear, the Beaver, 
and the Seal, all of whom similarly supplied refresh- 
ment for them in a magical manner. But Blue Jay's 
attempts at imitating these creatures were futile. 
326 



THE HEAVEN-SOUGHT BRIDE 

A visit to the Shadows concluded the round, and the 
adventurers returned home. 

The Heaveii'sought Bride 

A brother and sister left destitute by the death of 
their father, a chief of the Chinooks, were forced to go 
hunting sea-otters every day to obtain a livelihood. As 
they hunted the mists came down, and with them the 
Supernatural People, one of whom became enamoured 
of the girl. The ghostly husband sent his wife gifts 
of stranded timber and whale-meat, so that when her 
son was born she might want for nothing. The mis- 
chievous Blue Jay, hearing of the abundance of meat in 
the young chief's house, apprised his own chief of the 
circumstance and brought all the village to share it. 
The Supernatural People, annoyed that their bounty 
should be thus misused, abducted the young chief's 
sister, along with her child. 

The woman's aunt, the Crow, gathered many poten- 
tilla and other roots, placed them in her canoe, and put 
out to sea. She came to the country of the Super- 
natural Folk, and when they saw her approaching they 
all ran down to the beach to greet her. They greedily 
snatched at the roots she had brought with her and 
devoured them, eating the most succulent and throwing 
away those that were not so much to their taste. The 
Crow soon found her niece, who laughed at her for 
bringing such fare to such a land. 

" Do you think they are men that you bring them 
potentilla roots .? " she cried. " They only eat certain 
of the roots you have fetched hither because they have 
magical properties. The next time you come bring 
the sort of roots they seized upon — and you can also 
bring a basket of potentilla roots for me." 

327 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The Whak'catchcr 

She then called upon a dog which was gambolling 
close at hand. 

" Take this dog," she said to the Crow. " It 
belongs to your grand-nephew. When you come 
near the shore say, ' Catch a whale, dog,' and see what 
happens." 

The Crow bade farewell to her niece, and, re-entering 
her canoe, steered for the world of mortals again. The 
dog lay quietly in the stern. When about half-way 
across the Crow recollected her niece's advice. 

" Catch a whale, good dog," she cried encouragingly. 

The dog arose, and at that moment a whale crossed 
the path of the canoe. The dog sank his teeth in the 
great fish, and the frail bark rocked violently. 

" Hold him fast, good fellow ! " cried the Crow 
excitedly. " Hold him fast ! " But the canoe tossed 
so dangerously and shipped so much water that in a 
great fright she bade the dog let go. He did so, and 
lay down in the stern again. 

The Crow arrived at the world of men once more, 
and after landing turned round to call her wonderful 
dog ashore. But no trace of him was visible. He had 
disappeared. 

Once more the Crow gathered many roots and 
plants, taking especial care to collect a good supply 
of the sort the Supernatural People were fond of, 
and gathering only a small basket of potentilla. For 
the second time she crossed over to the land of the 
Divine Beings, who, on espying her succulent cargo, 
devoured it at once. She carried the potentilla roots 
to her niece, and when in her house noticed the dog 
she had received and lost. Her niece informed her 
that she should not have ordered the animal to seize 
328 



The mists came down, and with them the Supernatural 

People " 32^ 



THE CHINOOKS VISIT THE SUPERNATURALS 

the whale in mid-ocean, but should have waited until 
she was nearer the land. The Crow departed once 
more, taking the dog with her. 

When they approached the land of men the Crow 
called to the animal to catch a whale, but it stirred not. 
Then the Crow poured some water over him, and he 
started up and killed a large whale, the carcass of which 
drifted on to the beach, when the people came down 
and cut it up for food. 

The Chinooks Visit the Supernaturals 

Some time after this the young chief expressed a 
desire to go to see his sister, so his people manned a 
large canoe and set forth. The chief of the Super- 
natural People, observing their approach, warned his 
subjects that the mortals might do something to their 
disadvantage, and by means of magic he covered the 
sea with ice. The air became exceedingly cold, so 
cold, indeed, that Blue Jay, who had accompanied the 
young chief, leapt into the water. At this one of 
the Supernatural People on shore laughed and cried 
"out: "Ha, ha! Blue Jay has drowned himself!" 
At this taunt the young chief in the canoe arose, and, 
taking the ice which covered the surface of the sea, 
cast it away. At sight of such power the Supernatural 
Folk became much alarmed. 

The chief and his followers now came to land, and, 
walking up the beach, found it deserted. Not a single 
Supernatural Person was to be seen. Espying the 
chier's house, however, the Chinooks approached it. 
It was guarded by sea-lions, one at each side of the 
door. The chief cautiously warned his people against 
, attempting an entrance. But the irrepressible Blue Jay 
tried to leap past the sea-lions, and got severely bitten 
for his pains. Howling dismally, he rushed seaward. 

329 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

The young chief, annoyed that the Divine Beings should 
have cause for laughter against any of his people, now 
darted forward, seized the monsters one in each hand, 
and hurled them far away. 

At this second feat the Supernatural Folk set up a 
hubbub of rage and dismay, which was turned to loud 
laughter when Blue Jay claimed the deed as his, loudly 
chanting his own praises. The Chinooks, taking heart, 
entered the lodge. But the Supernatural Folk vanished, 
leaving only the chief's sister behind. 

The Chinooks had had nothing to eat since leaving 
their own country, and Blue Jay, who, like most 
worthless folk, was always hungry, complained loudly 
that he was famished. His brother Robin sullenly 
ordered him to be silent. Suddenly a Supernatural 
Being with a long beak emerged from under the bed, 
and, splitting wood with his beak, kindled a large fire. 

"Robin," said Blue Jay, "that is the spirit of our 
great-grandfather's slave." 

Soon the house was full of smoke, and a voice was 
heard calling out for the Smoke-eater. An individual 
with an enormous belly made his appearance, and 
swallowed all the smoke, so that the house became 
light. A small dish was brought, containing only one 
piece of meat. But the mysterious voice called for the 
Whale-meat-cutter, who appeared, and sliced the frag- 
ment so with his beak that the plate was full to over- 
flowing. Then he blew upon it, and it became a large 
canoe full of meat, which the Chinooks finished, much 
to the amazement of the Supernatural People. 



The Fouf Tests 

After a while a messenger from the Divine People 
approached and asked to be told whether the Indians 
would accept a challenge to a diving contest, the 
330 



THE FOUR TESTS 

defeated to lose their lives. This was agreed to, and 
Blue Jay was selected to dive for the Chinooks. He 
had taken the precaution of placing some bushes in his 
canoe, which he threw into the water before diving with 
his opponent, a woman. When his breath gave out he 
came to the surface, concealing his head under the 
floating bushes. Then he sank into the water again, 
and cried to his opponent : " Where are you ? " " Here 
I am," she replied. Four times did Blue Jay cunningly 
come up for breath, hidden beneath the bushes, and on 
diving for the last time he found the woman against 
whom he was pitted lying at the bottom of the sea, 
almost unconscious. He took his club, which he had 
concealed beneath his blanket, and struck her on the 
nape of the neck. Then he rose and claimed the 
victory. 

The Supernatural People, much chagrined, suggested 
a climbing contest, to which Blue Jay readily agreed, but 
he was warned that if he was beaten he would be dashed 
to pieces. He placed upright a piece of ice which was 
so high that it reached the clouds. The Supernaturals 
matched a chipmunk against him. When the com- 
petitors had reached a certain height Blue Jay grew 
tired, so he used his wings and flew upward. The 
chipmunk kept her eyes closed and did not notice the 
deception. Blue Jay hit her on the neck with his club, 
so that she fell, and Blue Jay was adjudged the winner. 

A shooting match was next proposed by the ex- 
asperated Supernaturals, in which the persons engaged 
were to shoot at one another. This the Chinooks 
won by taking a beaver as their champion and tying a 
millstone in front of him. A sweating match was also 
won by the Chinooks taking ice with them into the 
superheated caves where the contest took place. 

As a last effbrt to shame the Chinooks the Divine 

331 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

People suggested that the two chiefs should engage in 
a whale-catching contest. This was agreed to, and the 
Supernatural chief's wife, after warning them, placed 
Blue Jay and Robin under her armpits to keep them 
quiet. As they descended to the beach, she said to her 
brother : " Four whales will pass you, but do not har- 
poon any until the fifth appears." 

Robin did as he was bid, but the woman had a hard 
time in keeping the curious Blue Jay hidden. The 
four whales passed, but the young chief took no heed. 
Then the fifth slid by. He thrust his harpoon deep 
into its blubber, and cast it ashore. The Supernatural 
chief was unsuccessful in his attempts, and so the 
Chinooks won again. On the result being known Blue 
Jay could no longer be restrained, and, falling from 
under the woman's arm, he was drowned. 

On setting out for home the chief was advised to tie 
Robin's blanket to a magical rope with which his sister 
provided him. When the Chinooks were in the 
middle of the ocean the Supernatural People raised 
a great storm to encompass their destruction. But the 
charm the chief's sister had given them proved effica- 
cious, and they reached their own land in safety. 

Blue Jay's death may be regarded as merely figura- 
tive, for he appears in many subsequent Chinook tales. 

This myth is undoubtedly one of the class which 
relates to the * harrying of Hades.' See the remarks 
at the conclusion of the myth of " The Thunderer's 
Son-in-law." 

The Thundcrcr*s Son-iii'Law 

There were five brothers who lived together. Four 
of them were accustomed to spend their days in hunting 
elk, while the fifth, who was the youngest, was always 
compelled to remain at the camp. They lived amicably 
33^ 



THE THUNDERER'S SONJN-LAW 

enough, save that the youngest grumbled at never 
being able to go to the hunting. One day as the youth 
sat brooding over his grievance the silence was sud- 
denly broken by a hideous din which appeared to come 
from the region of the doorway. He was at a loss to 
understand the cause of it, and anxiously wished for 
the return of his brothers. Suddenly there appeared 
before him a man of gigantic size, strangely apparelled. 
He demanded food, and the frightened boy, remem- 
bering that they were well provided, hastily arose to 
satisfy the stranger's desires. He brought out an 
ample supply of meat and tallow, but was astonished 
to find that the strange being lustily called for more. 
The youth, thoroughly terrified, hastened to gratify 
the monster's craving, and the giant ate steadily on, 
hour after hour, until the brothers returned at the end 
of the day to discover the glutton devouring the fruits 
of their hunting. The monster appeared not to heed 
the brothers, but, anxious to satisfy his enormous 
appetite, he still ate. A fresh supply of meat had 
been secured, and this the brothers placed before him. 
He continued to gorge himself throughout the night 
and well into the next day. At last the meat was 
at an end, and the brothers became alarmed. What 
next would the insatiable creature demand ? They 
approached him and told him that only skins remained, 
but he replied : " What shall I eat, grandchildren, now 
that there are only skins and you ? " They did not 
appear to understand him until they had questioned 
him several times. On realizing that the glutton 
meant to devour them, they determined to escape, so, 
boiling the skins, which they set before him, they fled 
through a hole in the hut. Outside they placed a dog, 
and told him to send the giant in the direction opposite to 
that which they had taken. Night fell, and the monster 

333 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

slept, while the dog kept a weary vigil over the exit by 
which his masters had escaped. Day dawned as the 
giant crept through the gap. He asked the dog : 
" Which way went your masters ? " The animal 
replied by setting his head in the direction opposite 
to the true one. The giant observed the sign, and 
went on the road the dog indicated. After proceeding 
for some distance he found that the young men could 
not have gone that way, so he returned to the hut, to 
find the dog still there. Again he questioned the animal, 
who merely repeated his previous movement. The 
monster once more set out, but, unable to discover the 
fugitives, he again returned. Three times he repeated 
these fruitless journeys. At last he succeeded in getting 
on to the right path, and shortly came within sight of 
the brothers. 

The Thunderer 

Immediately they saw their pursuer they endeavoured 
to outrun him, but without avail. The giant gained 
ground, and soon overtook the eldest, whom he slew. 
He then made for the others, and slew three more. 
The youngest only was left. The lad hurried on until 
he came to a river, on the bank of which was a man 
fishing, whose name was the Thunderer. This person 
he implored to convey him to the opposite side. After 
much hesitation the Thunderer agreed, and, rowing 
him over the stream, he commanded the fugitive to go 
to his hut, and returned to his nets. By this time the 
monster had gained the river, and on seeing the fisher- 
man he asked to be ferried over also. The Thunderer 
at first refused, but was eventually persuaded by the 
offer of a piece of twine. Afraid that the boat might 
capsize, the Thunderer stretched himself across the 
river, and commanded the giant to walk over his body. 
334 



STORM'RAISING 

The monster, unaware of treachery, readily responded, 
but no sooner had he reached the Thunderer's legs 
than the latter set them apart, thus precipitating him 
into the water. His hat also fell in after him. The 
Thunderer now gained his feet, and watched the giant 
drifting helplessly down the stream. He did not wish 
to save the monster, for he believed him to be an evil 
spirit. " Okulam [Noise of Surge] will be your name," 
he said. " Only when the storm is raging will you be 
heard. When the weather is very bad your hat will 
also be heard." As he concluded this prophecy the 
giant disappeared from sight. The Thunderer then 
gathered his nets together and went to his ;hut. The 
youth whom he had saved married his daughter, and 
continued to remain with him. One day the youth 
desired to watch his father-in-law fishing for whales. 
His wife warned him against doing so. He paid no 
heed to her warning, however, but went to the sea, 
where he saw the Thunderer struggling with a whale. 
His father-in-law flew into a great rage, and a furious 
storm arose. The Thunderer looked toward the land, 
and immediately the storm increased in fury, with 
thunder and lightning, so he threw down his dip-net 
and departed for home, followed by his son-in-law. 

Stoftn'Raising 

On reaching the house the young man gathered 
some pieces of coal and climbed a mountain. There 
he blackened his face, and a high wind arose which 
carried everything before it. His father-in-law's house 
was blown away, and the Thunderer, seeing that it was 
hopeless to attempt to save anything from the wreck, 
commanded his daughter to seek for her husband. She 
hurried up the mountain-side, where she found him, 
and told him he was the cause of all the destruction, 

335 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

but concluded : " Father says you may look at him 
to-morrow when he catches whales." He followed 
his wife back to the valley and washed his face. Im- 
mediately he had done so the storm abated. Going up 
to his father-in-law, he said : " To-morrow I shall go 
down to the beach, and you shall see me catching 
whales." Then the Thunderer and he rebuilt their 
hut. On the following morning they went down to 
the sea- shore together. The young man cast his net 
into the sea. After a little while a whale entered the 
net. The youth quickly pulled the net toward him, 
reached for the whale, and flung it at the feet of 
his father-in-law. Thunderer was amazed, and called 
to him : " Ho, ho, my son-in-law, you are just as I was 
when I was a young man." 

The Beast Comrades 

Soon after this the Thunderer's daughter gave birth 
to two sons. The Thunderer sent the young man into 
the woods to capture two wolves with which he used to 
play when a boy. The son-in-law soon returned with 
the animals, and threw them at the feet of the Thun- 
derer. But they severely mauled the old man, who, 
seeing that they had forgotten him, cried piteously to 
his son-in-law to carry them back to the forest. Shortly 
after this he again despatched his son-in-law in search 
of two bears with which he had also been friendly. 
The young man obeyed. But the bears treated the 
old man as the wolves had done, so he likewise re- 
turned them to their native haunts. For the third time 
the son-in-law went into the forest, for two grizzly 
bears, and when he saw them he called : " I come to 
carry you away." The bears instantly came toward 
him and suffered themselves to be carried before the 
Thunderer. But they also had forgotten their former 
336 



THE SPIRIT.LAND 

playmate, and immediately set upon him, so that the 
young man was compelled to return with them to the 
forest. Thunderer had scarcely recovered from this last 
attack when he sent his son-in-law into the same forest 
after two panthers, which in his younger days had also 
been his companions. Without the slightest hesitation 
the young man arose and went into the wood, where he 
met the panthers. He called to them in the same gentle 
manner : " I come to take you away." The animals 
seemed to understand, and followed him. But Thun- 
derer was dismayed when he saw how wild they had 
grown. They would not allow him to tame them, and 
after suffering their attack he sent them back to the 
forest. This ended the Thunderer's exciting pastime. 

The Tests 

The Thunderer then sent his son-in-law to split a log 
of wood. When this had been done he put the young 
man's strength to the test by placing him within the 
hollow trunk and closing the wood around him. But 
the young man succeeded in freeing himself, and set 
off for the hut carrying the log with him. On reaching 
his home he dropped the wood before the door, and 
caused the earth to quake. The Thunderer jumped up 
in alarm and ran to the door rejoicing in the might of 
his son-in-law. " Oh, my son-in-law," he cried, " you 
are just as I was when 1 was young ! " The two con- 
tinued to live together and the young man's sons grew 
into manhood. One day the Thunderer approached 
his son-in-law and said : " Go to the Supernatural 
Folk and bring me their hoops." 

The Spirit'land 

The son-in-law obeyed. He travelled for a long 
distance, and eventually reached the land of the spirits. 

337 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

They stood in a circle, and he saw that they played 
with a large hoop. He then remembered that he 
must secure the hoop. But he was afraid to approach 
them, as the light ot the place dazzled him. He 
waited until darkness had set in, and, leaving his hiding- 
place, dashed through the circle and secured the hoop. 
The Supernatural People pursued him with torches. 
Just as this was taking place his wife remembered him. 
She called to her children : " Now whip your grand- 
father." This they did, while the old man wept. 
This chastisement brought rain upon the Supernatural 
People and extinguished their torches. They dared 
not pursue the young man farther, so they returned 
to their country. The adventurer was now left in 
peace to continue his homeward journey. He handed 
over the hoop to Thunderer, who now rsent him to 
capture the targets of the Spirit Folk. The son-in-law 
gladly undertook the journey, and again entered the 
bright region of Spirit-land. He found the Super- 
naturals shooting at the targets, and when night had 
fallen he picked them up and ran away. The spirits 
lit their torches and followed him. His wife once 
more was reminded of her absent husband, and com- 
manded her sons to repeat the punishment upon their 
grandfather. The rain recommenced and the torches 
of the pursuers were destroyed. The young man 
returned in peace to his dwelling and placed the 
targets before his father-in-law. He had not been 
long home before a restless spirit took possession of 
him. He longed for further adventure, and at last 
decided to set out in quest of it. Arraying himself 
in his fine necklaces of teeth and strapping around his 
waist two quivers of arrows, he bade farewell to his 
wife and sons. He journeyed until he reached a large 
village, which consisted of five rows of houses. These 
338 



THE SPIRIT-LAND 

he carefully inspected. The last house was very small, 
but he entered it. He was met by two old women, 
who were known as the Mice. Immediately they saw 
him they muttered to each other : " Oh, now Blue 
Jay will make another chief unhappy." On the young 
man's arrival in the village Blue Jay became conscious 
of a stranger in the midst of the people. He straight- 
way betook himself to the house of the Mice. He 
then returned to his chief, saying that a strange chief 
wished to hold a shooting match. Blue Jay's chief 
seemed quite willing to enter into the contest with the 
stranger, so he sent Blue Jay back to the house to 
inform the young chief of his willingness. Blue Jay 
led the stranger down to the beach where the targets 
stood. Soon the old chief arrived and the shooting 
match began. But the adventurer's skill could not 
compare with the old chief's, who finally defeated 
him. Blue Jay now saw his opportunity. He sprang 
upon the stranger, tore out his hair, cut off his head, 
and severed the limbs from his body. He carried the 
pieces to the house and hung up the head. At night- 
fall the Mice fed the head and managed to keep it 
alive. This process of feeding went on for many 
months, the old women never tiring of their task. A 
full year had passed, and the unfortunate adventurer's 
sons began to fear for his safety. They decided to 
search for him. Arming themselves, they made their 
way to the large village in which their father was 
imprisoned. They entered the house of the Mice, 
and there saw the two old women, who asked : " Oh, 
chiefs, where did you come from ? " 

"We search for our father," they replied. But the 
old women warned them of Blue Jay's treachery, and 
advised them to depart. The young men would not 
heed the advice, and succeeded in drawing from the 

339 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

women the story of their father's fate. When they 
heard that Blue Jay had used their father so badly 
they were very angry. Blue Jay, meanwhile, had 
become aware of the arrival of two strangers, and 
he went to the small house to smell them out. There 
he espied the youths, and immediately returned to 
inform his chief of their presence in the village. The 
chief then sent him back to invite the strangers to 
a shooting match, but they ignored the invitation. 
Three times Blue Jay made the journey, and at last 
the youths looked upon him, whereupon his hair 
immediately took fire. He ran back to his chief and 
said : " Oh, these strangers are more powerful than we 
are. They looked at me and my hair caught fire." 
The chief was amazed, and went down to the beach to 
await the arrival of the strangers. When the young 
men saw the targets they would not shoot, and declared 
that they were bad. They immediately drew them 
out of the ground and replaced them by their own, the 
brilliance of which dazzled the sight of their opponent. 
The chief was defeated. He lost his life and the 
people were subdued. The youths then cast Blue Jay 
into the river, saying as they did so : " Green Sturgeon 
shall be your name. Henceforth you shall not make 
chiefs miserable. You shall sing ' Watsetsetsetsetse,' 
and it shall be a bad omen." This performance over, 
they restored their father from his death-slumber, and 
spoke kindly to the Mice, saying : " Oh, you pitiful 
ones, you shall eat everything that is good. You 
shall eat berries." Then, after establishing order in this 
strange land, they returned to their home, accompanied 
by their father. 

This curious story is an example of what is known 
in mythology as the * harrying of Hades.' The land 
of the supernatural or subterranean beings always 
340 



THE MYTH OF STIKUA 

exercises a profound fascination over the minds of 
barbarians, and such tales are invented by their story- 
tellers for the. purpose of minimizing the terrors which 
await them when they themselves must enter the strange 
country by death. The incident of the glutton would 
seem to show that two tales have been amalgamated, 
a not uncommon circumstance in primitive story-telling. 
In these stories the evil or supernatural power is in- 
variably defeated, and it is touching to observe the 
child-like attempts of the savage to quench the dread 
of death, common to all mankind, by creating amuse- 
ment at the ludicrous appearance of the dreadful beings 
whom he fears. The sons of the Thunderer are, of 
course, hero-gods whose effulgence confounds the 
powers of darkness, and to some extent they resemble 
the Hun-Apu and Xbalanque of the Central American 
Fofol Vuh, who travel to the dark kingdom of Xibalba 
to rescue their father and uncle, and succeed in over- 
throwing its hideous denizens.^ 

The Myth of Stikua 

As an example of a myth as taken from the lips of 
the Indian by the collector we append to this series of 
Chinook tales the story of Stikua in all its pristine 
ingenuousness. Such a tale well exemplifies the differ- 
ence of outlook between the aboriginal and the civilized 
mind, and exhibits the many difficulties with which 
collectors of such myths have to contend. 

Many people were living at Nakotat. Now their 
chief died. He had [left] a son who was almost grown 
up. It was winter and the people were hungry. They 
had only mussels and roots to eat. Once upon a time 
a hunter said: " Make yourselves ready." All the men 
made themselves ready, and went seaward in two canoes. 
^ See the author's Myths of Mexico and Peru, in this series, p. 220. 

z 341 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

Then the hunter speared a sea-lion. It jumped and 
drifted on the water [dead]. They hauled it ashore. 
Blue Jay said : "Let us boil it here." They made a 
fire and singed it. They cut it and boiled it. Blue 
Jay said : "Let us eat it here, let us eat all of it." 
Then the people ate. Raven tried to hide a piece of 
meat in his mat, and carried it to the canoe. [But] 
Blue Jay had already seen it ; he ran [after him] took 
it and threw it into the fire. He burned it. Then 
they went home. They gathered large and small 
mussels. In the evening they came home. Then 
Blue Jay shouted : " Stiktia, fetch your mussels." 
Stikua was the name of Blue Jay's wife. Then noise 
of many feet [was heard], and Stiktia and the other 
women came running down to the beach. They went 
to fetch mussels. The women came to the beach and 
carried the mussels to the house. Raven took care ot 
the chief's son. The boy said : " To-morrow I shall 
accompany you." Blue Jay said to him: "What do 
you want to do ^ The waves will carry you away, you 
will drift away ; even I almost drifted away." 

The next morning they made themselves ready. 
They went into the canoe, and the boy came down to 
the beach. He wanted to accompany them, and held 
on to the canoe. "Go to the house, go to the house," 
said Blue Jay. The boy went up, but he was very 
sad. Then Blue Jay said : " Let us leave him." 
The people began to paddle. Then they arrived at 
the sea-lion island. The hunter went ashore and 
speared a sea-lion. It jumped and drifted on the water 
[dead]. They hauled it ashore and pulled it up from 
the water. Blue Jay said : " Let us eat it here ; let 
us eat all of it, else our chief's son would always want 
to come here." They singed it, carved it, and boiled 
it there. When it was done they ate it all. Raven 
342 



THE MYTH OF STIKUA 

tried to hide a piece in his hair, but Blue Jay took it 
out immediately and burned it. In the evening they 
gathered large and small mussels, and then they went 
home. When they approached the beach Blue Jay 
shouted : "StikUa, fetch your mussels ! " Then noise 
of many feet [was heard]. Stikua and her children and 
all the other women came running down to the beach 
and carried the mussels up to the house. Blue Jay had 
told all those people : " Don't tell our chief's son, else 
he will want to accompany us." In the evening the 
boy said : "To-morrow I shall accompany you." But 
Blue Jay said : "What do you want to do ? The 
waves will carry you away." But the boy replied : 
"I must go." 

In the morning they made themselves ready for the 
third time. The boy went down to the beach and 
took hold of the canoe. But Blue Jay pushed him 
aside and said : "What do you want here ? Go 
to the house." The boy cried and went up to the 
house. [When he turned back] Blue Jay said : " Now 
paddle away. We will leave him." The people 
began to paddle, and soon they reached the sea-lion 
island. The hunter went ashore and speared one 
large sea-lion. It jumped and drifted on the water 
[dead]. They hauled it toward the shore, landed, 
pulled it up and singed it. They finished singeing it. 
Then they carved it and boiled it, and when it was done 
they began to eat. Blue Jay said : " Let us eat it all. 
Nobody must speak about it, else our chief's son will 
always want to accompany us." A little [meat] was 
still left when they had eaten enough. Raven tried to 
take a piece with him. He tied it to his leg and said 
his leg was broken. Blue Jay burned all that was left 
over. Then he said to Raven : " Let me see your 
leg." He jumped at it, untied it, and found the piece 

343 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of meat at Raven's leg. He took it and burned it. In 
the evening they gathered large and small mussels. 
Then they went home. When they were near home 
Blue Jay shouted : "Stiktia, fetch your mussels ! " 
Then noise of many feet [was heard], and Stikua [her 
children and the other women] came down to the beach 
and carried the mussels up to the house. The [women 
and children] and the chief's son ate the mussels all 
night. Then that boy said : " To-morrow I shall 
accompany you." Blue Jay said : " What do you 
want to do ? You will drift away. If I had not taken 
hold of the canoe I should have drifted away twice." 

On the next morning they made themselves ready 
for the fourth time. The boy rose and made himself 
ready also. The people hauled their canoes into the 
water and went aboard. The boy tried to board a 
canoe also, but Blue Jay took hold of him and threw 
him into the water. He stood in the water up to his 
waist. He held the canoe, but Blue Jay struck his 
hands. There he stood. He cried, and cried, and 
went up to the house. The people went ; they paddled, 
and soon they reached the sea-lion island. The hunter 
went ashore and speared a sea-lion. It jumped and 
drifted on the water [dead]. Again they towed it to 
the island, and pulled it ashore. They singed it. 
When they had finished singeing it they carved it and 
boiled it. When it was done Blue Jay said : "Let us 
eat it here." They ate half of it and were satiated. 
They slept because they had eaten too much. Blue 
Jay awoke first, and burned all that was left. In the 
evening they gathered large and small mussels and 
went home. When they were near the shore he 
shouted : " Stiktia, fetch your mussels ! " Noise of 
many feet [was heard] and Stiktia [her children and 
the other women] came running down to the beach 
344- 



THE MYTH OF STIKUA 

and carried up the mussels. The boy said : " To- 
morrow I shall accompany you." But Blue Jay said : 
" What do you want to do .'' We might capsize and 
you would be drowned." 

Early on the following morning the people made 
themselves ready. The boy arose and made himself 
ready also. Blue Jay and the people hauled their 
canoes down to the water. The boy tried to board, 
but Blue Jay threw him into the water. He tried to 
hold the canoe. The water reached up to his arm- 
pits. Blue Jay struck his hands [until he let go]. 
Then the boy cried and cried. Blue Jay and the other 
people went away. 

After some time the boy went up from the beach. 
He took his arrows and walked round a point of land. 
There he met a young eagle and shot it. He skinned 
it and tried to put the skin on. It was too small ; it 
reached scarcely to his knees. Then he took it off, 
and went on. After a while he met another eagle. He 
shot it and it fell down. It was a white-headed eagle. 
He skinned it and tried the skin on, but it was too 
small ; it reached a little below his knees. He took it 
off, left it, and went on. Soon he met a bald-headed 
eagle. He shot it twice and it fell down. He skinned 
it and put the skin on. It was nearly large enough for 
him, and he tried to fly. He could fly downward only. 
He did not rise. He turned back, and now he could 
fly. Now he went round the point seaward from 
Nakotat. When he had nearly gone round he smelled 
smoke of burning fat. When he came round the 
point he saw the people of his town. He alighted on 
top of a tree and looked down. [He saw that] they 
had boiled a sea-lion and that they ate it. When they 
had nearly finished eating he flew up. He thought : 
" Oh, I wish Blue Jay would see me." Then Blue Jay 

345 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

looked up [and saw] the bird flying about. " Ah, a 
bird came to get food from us." Five times the eagle 
circled over the fire ; then it descended. Blue Jay- 
took a piece of blubber and said : " I will give you this 
to eat." The bird came down, grasped the piece of 
meat, and flew away. " Ha ! " said Blue Jay, " that 
bird has feet like a man." When the people had eaten 
enough they slept. Raven again hid a piece of meat. 
Toward evening they awoke and ate again ; then Blue 
Jay burned the rest of their food. In the evening 
they gathered large and small mussels and went home. 
When the boy came home he lay down at once. They 
approached the village, and Blue Jay shouted : " Fetch 
your mussels, Stiktia ! " Noise of many feet [was 
heard] and Stiktia [and the other women] ran down to 
the beach and carried up the mussels. They tried to 
rouse the boy, but he did not arise. 

The next morning the people made themselves ready 
and launched their canoe. The chief's son stayed in bed 
and did not attempt to accompany them. After sunrise 
he rose and called the women and children and said : 
" Wash yourselves ; be quick." The women obeyed 
and washed themselves. He continued : " Comb your 
hair." Then he put down a plank, took a piece of 
meat out [from under his blanket, showed it to the 
women, and said] : " Every day your husbands eat 
this." He put two pieces side by side on the plank, 
cut them to pieces, and greased the heads of all the 
women and children. Then he pulled the planks 
forming the walls of the houses out of the ground. 
He sharpened them [at one end, and] those which 
were very wide he split in two. He sharpened all of 
them. The last house of the village was that of the 
Raven. He did not pull out its wall-planks. He put 
the planks on to the backs of the women and children 
346 



THE MYTH OF STIKUA 

and said : " Go down to the beach. When you go 
seaward swim five times round that rock. Then go sea- 
ward. When you see sea-lions you shall kill them. 
But you shall not give anything to stingy people. I 
shall take these children down. They shall live on the 
sea and be my relatives." 

Then he split sinews. The women went into the 
water and began to jump [out of the water]. They 
swam five times back and forth in front of the village. 
Then they went seaward to the place where Blue Jay 
and the men were boiling. Blue Jay said to the men : 
"What is that ? " The men looked and saw the girls 
jumping. Five times they swam round Blue Jay's 
rock. Then they went seaward. A^fter a while birds 
came flying to the island. Their bills were [as red] as 
blood. They followed [the fish]. " Ah ! " said Blue 
Jay, " do you notice them ? Whence come these 
numerous birds.''" The Raven said: "Ha, squint- 
eye, they are your children ; do you not recognize 
them ^ " Five times they went round the rock. Now 
[the boy] threw the sinews down upon the stones and 
said : " When Blue Jay comes to gather mussels they 
shall be fast [to the rocks]." And he said to the 
women, turning toward the sea: "Whale-Killer will 
be your name. When you catch a whale you will eat 
it, but when you catch a sea-lion you will throw it 
away ; but you shall not give anything to stingy 
people." 

Blue Jay and the people were eating. Then that 
hunter said : " Let us go home. I am afraid we have 
seen evil spirits ; we have never seen anything like that 
on this rock." Now they gathered mussels and carried 
along the meat which they had left over. In the 
evening they came near their home. [Blue Jay shouted :] 
"Stiktla, fetch your mussels ! " There was no sound 

H7 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of people. Five times he called. Now the people 
went ashore and [they saw that] the walls of the 
houses had disappeared. The people cried. Blue Jay- 
cried also, but somebody said to him : " Be quiet, 
Blue Jay ; if you had not been bad our chief's son 
would not have done so." Now they all made one 
house. Only Raven had one house [by himself]. He 
went and searched for food on the beach. He found 
a sturgeon. He went again to the beach and found a 
porpoise. Then Blue Jay went to the beach and tried 
to search for food. [As soon as he went out] it began 
to hail ; the hailstones were so large [indicating]. He 
tried to gather mussels and wanted to break them off, 
but they did not come off. He could not break them 
off. He gave it up. Raven went to search on the 
beach and found a seal. The others ate roots only. 
Thus their chief took revenge on them. 

Beliefs of the Californian Tribes 

The tribes of California afford a strange example of 
racial conglomeration, speaking as they do a variety 
of languages totally distinct from one another, and 
exhibiting many differences in physical appearance and 
custom. Concerning their mythological beliefs Ban- 
croft says : 

" The Californian tribes, taken as a whole, are 
pretty uniform in the main features of their theogonic 
beliefs. They seem, without exception, to have had a 
hazy conception of a lofty, almost supreme being ; for 
the most part referred to as a Great Man, the Old Man 
Above, the One Above ; attributing to him, however, 
as is usual in such cases, nothing but the vaguest 
and most negative functions and qualities. The real 
practical power that most interested them, who had 
most to do with them and they with him, was a demon, 
348 



BELIEFS OF THE CALIFORNIAN TRIBES 

or body of demons, of a tolerably pronounced character. 
In the face of divers assertions to the effect that no such 
thing as a devil proper has ever been found in savage 
mythology, we would draw attention to the following 
extract from the Tomo manuscript of Mr. Powers — a 
gentleman who, both by his study and by personal 
investigation, has made himself one of the best qualified 
authorities on the belief of the native Californian, and 
whose dealings have been for the most part with tribes 
that have never had any friendly intercourse with white 
men. Of course the thin and meagre imagination of 
the American savages was not equal to the creation of 
Milton's magnificent imperial Satan, or of Goethe's 
Mephistopheles, with his subtle intellect, his vast 
powers, his malignant mirth ; but in so far as the 
Indian fiends or devils have the ability, they are 
wholly as wicked as these. They are totally bad, 
they have no good thing in them, they think only evil ; 
but they are weak and undignified and absurd ; they 
are as much beneath Satan as the * Big Indians' who 
invent them are inferior in imagination to John Milton. 

"A definite location is generally assigned to the 
evil one as his favourite residence or resort ; thus the 
Californians in the county of Siskiyou give over Devil's 
Castle, its mount and lake, to the malignant spirits, 
and avoid the vicinity of these places with all possible 
care. 

" The coast tribes of Del Norte County, California, 
live in constant terror of a malignant spirit that takes 
the form of certain animals, the form of a bat, of a 
hawk, of a tarantula, and so on, but especially delights 
in and affects that of a screech-owl. The belief of the 
Russian river tribes and others is practically identical 
with this. 

" The Cahrocs have some conception of a great 

349 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

deity called Chareya, the Old Man Above ; he is wont 
to appear upon earth at times to some of the most 
favoured sorcerers ; he is described as wearing a close 
tunic, with a medicine-bag, and as having long white 
hair that falls venerably about his shoulders. Practically, 
however, the Cahrocs, like the majority of Californian 
tribes, venerate chiefly the Coyote. Great dread is also 
had of certain forest-demons of nocturnal habits ; these, 
say the Cahrocs, take the form of bears, and shoot 
arrows at benighted wayfarers. 

" Between the foregoing outlines of Californian 
belief and those connected with the remaining tribes, 
passing south, we can detect no salient difference 
till we reach the Olchones, a coast tribe between San 
Francisco and Monterey ; the sun here begins to be 
connected, or identified by name, with that great spirit, 
or rather, that Big Man, who made the earth and who 
rules in the sky. So we find it again both around 
Monterey and around San Luis Obispo ; the first fruits 
of the earth were offered in these neighbourhoods to 
the great light, and his rising was greeted with cries 
ofjoy." 

Father Geronimo Boscana gives us the following ac- 
count of the faith and worship of the Acagchemem tribes, 
who inhabit the valley and neighbourhood of San Juan 
Capistrano, California. We give first the version held 
by the serranos^ or highlanders, of the interior country, 
three or four leagues inland from San Juan Capistrano : 

" Before the material world at all existed there lived 
two beings, brother and sister, of a nature that cannot 
be explained ; the brother living above, and his name 
meaning the Heavens, the sister living below, and her 
name signifying Earth. From the union of these two 
there sprang a numerous offspring. Earth and sand 
were the first-fruits of this marriage; then were born 
350 



BELIEFS OF THE CALIFORNIAN TRIBES 

rocks and stones ; then trees, both great and small ; 
then grass and herbs ; then animals ; lastly was born a 
great personage called Ouiot, who was a * grand captain.' 
By some unknown mother many children of a medicine 
race were born to this Ouiot. All these things happened 
in the north ; and afterwards when men were created 
they were created in the north ; but as the people 
multiplied they moved toward the south, the earth 
growing larger also and extending itself in the same 
direction. 

" In process of time, Ouiot becoming old, his children 
plotted to kill him, alleging that the infirmities of age 
made him unfit any longer to govern them or attend 
to their welfare. So they put a strong poison in his 
drink, and when he drank of it a sore sickness came 
upon him; he rose up and left his home in the 
mountains, and went down to what is now the sea- 
shore, though at that time there was no sea there. 
His mother, whose name is the Earth, mixed him an 
antidote in a large shell, and set the potion out in the 
sun to brew ; but the fragrance of it attracted the 
attention of the Coyote, who came and overset the 
shell. So Ouiot sickened to death, and though he told 
his children that he would shortly return and be with 
them again, he has never been seen since. All the 
people made a great pile of wood and burnt his body 
there, and just as the ceremony began the Coyote 
leaped upon the body, saying that he would burn with 
it ; but he only tore a piece of flesh from the stomach 
and ate it and escaped. After that the title of the 
Coyote was changed from Eyacque, which means Sub- 
captain, to Eno, that is to say. Thief and Cannibal. 

" When now the funeral rites were over, a general 
council was held and arrangements made for collecting 
animal and vegetable food; for up to this time the 

3SI 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

children and descendants of Ouiot had nothing to eat 
but a kind of white clay. And while they consulted 
together, behold a marvellous thing appeared before 
them, and they spoke to it, saying : ' Art thou our 
captain, Ouiot ? ' But the spectre said : ' Nay, for I am 
greater than Ouiot ; my habitation is above, and my 
name is Chinigchinich.' Then he spoke further, having 
been told for what they were come together : * I create 
all things, and I go now to make man, another people 
like unto you ; as for you, I give you power, each 
after his kind, to produce all good and pleasant things. 
One of you shall bring rain, and another dew, and 
another make the acorn grow, and others other seeds, 
and yet others shall cause all kinds of game to abound 
in the land ; and your children shall have this power 
for ever, and they shall be sorcerers to the men I go 
to create, and shall receive gifts of them, that the game 
fail not and the harvests be sure.' Then Chinigchinich 
made man ; out of the clay of the lake he formed him, 
male and female ; and the present Californians are the 
descendants of the one or more pairs there and thus 
created. 

*' So ends the known tradition of the mountaineers ; 
we must now go back and take up the story anew at 
its beginning, as told by the playanos, or people of the 
valley of San Juan Capistrano. These say that an 
invisible, all-powerful being, called Nocuma, made the 
world and all that it contains of things that grow and 
move. He made it round like a ball and held it in his 
hands, where it rolled about a good deal at first, till he 
steadied it by sticking a heavy black rock called Tosaut 
into it, as a kind of ballast. The sea was at this time 
only a little stream running round the world, and so 
crowded with fish that their twinkling fins had no 
longer room to move ; so great was the press that 
352 



BELIEFS OF THE CALIFORNIAN TRIBES 

some of the more foolish fry were for effecting a 
landing and founding a colony upon the dry land, 
and it was only with the utmost difficulty that they 
were persuaded by their elders that the killing air and 
baneful sun and the want of feet must infallibly prove 
the destruction before many days of all who took part 
in such a desperate enterprise. The proper plan was 
evidently to improve and enlarge their present home ; 
and to this end, principally by the aid of one very large 
fish, they broke the great rock Tosaut in two, finding a 
bladder in the centre filled with a very bitter substance. 
The taste of it pleased the fish, so they emptied it into 
the water, and instantly the water became salt and 
swelled up and overflowed a great part of the old 
earth, and made itself the new boundaries that remain 
to this day. 

" Then Nocuma created a man, shaping him out of 
the soil of the earth, calling him Ejoni. A woman 
also the great god made, presumably out of the same 
material as the man, calling her A6. Many children 
were born to this first pair, and their descendants 
multiplied over the land. The name of one of these 
last was Sirout, that is to say. Handful of Tobacco, and 
the name of his wife was Ycaiut, which means Above ; 
and to Sirout and Ycaiut was born a son, while they 
lived in a place north-east about eight leagues from 
San Juan Capistrano. The name of this son was 
Ouiot, that is to say, Dominator ; he grew a fierce and 
redoubtable warrior ; haughty, ambitious, tyrannous, 
he extended his lordship on every side, ruling every- 
where as with a rod of iron ; and the people conspired 
against him. It was determined that he should die by 
poison ; a piece of the rock Tosaut was ground up in 
so deadly a way that its mere external application was 
sufficient to cause death. Ouiot, notwithstanding that 

353 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

he held himself constantly on the alert, having been 
warned of his danger by a small burrowing animal 
called the cucumel, was unable to avoid his fate ; a few 
grains of the cankerous mixture were dropped upon his 
breast while he slept, and the strong mineral ate its way 
to the very springs of his life. All the wise men of 
the land were called to his assistance ; but there was 
nothing for him save to die. His body was burned on 
a great pile with songs of joy and dances, and the 
nation rejoiced. 

" While the people were gathered to this end, it was 
thought advisable to consult on the feasibility of pro- 
curing seed and flesh to eat instead of the clay which 
had up to this time been the sole food of the human 
family. And while they yet talked together, there 
appeared to them, coming they knew not whence, one 
called Attajen, 'which name implies man, or rational 
being,' And Attajen, understanding their desires, 
chose out certain of the elders among them, and to 
these gave he power ; one that he might cause rain to 
fall, to another that he might cause game to abound, 
and so with the rest, to each his power and gift, and to 
the successors of each for ever. These were the first 
medicine-men." 

Many years having elapsed since the death ot 
Ouiot, there appeared in the same place one called 
Ouiamot, reputed son of Tacu and Auzar — people 
unknown, but natives, it is thought by Boscana, of 
" some distant land." This Ouiamot is better known 
by his great name Chinigchinich, which means Al- 
mighty. He first manifested his powers to the people 
on a day when they had met in congregation for some 
purpose or other ; he appeared dancing before them 
crowned with a kind of high crown made of tall 
feathers stuck into a circlet of some kind, girt with a 
354 



BELIEFS OF THE CALIFORNIAN TRIBES 

kind of petticoat of feathers, and having his flesh 
painted black and red. Thus decorated he was called 
the tohet. Having danced some time, Chinigchinich 
called out the medicine-men, or puplems^ as they were 
called, among whom it would appear the chiefs are 
always numbered, and confirmed their power ; telling 
them that he had come from the stars to instruct them 
in dancing and all other things, and commanding that 
in all their necessities they should array themselves in 
the tobet^ and so dance as he had danced, supplicating 
him by his great name, that thus they might be granted 
their petitions. He taught them how to worship him, 
how to build vanquechs^ or places of worship, and 
how to direct their conduct in various affairs of life. 
Then he prepared to die, and the people asked him if 
they should bury him ; but he warned them against 
attempting such a thing. "If ye buried me," he i said, 
" ye would tread upon my grave, and for that my hand 
would be heavy upon you ; look to it, and to all your 
ways, for lo, I go up where the high stars are, where 
mine eyes shall see all the ways of men ; and who- 
soever will not keep my commandments nor observe 
the things I have taught, behold, disease shall plague 
all his body, and no food shall come near his lips, the 
bear shall rend his flesh, and the crooked tooth of the 
serpent shall sting him." 

In Lower California the Pericues were divided into 
two gentes, each of which worshipped a divinity which 
was hostile to the other. The tradition explains that 
there was a great lord in heaven, called Niparaya, who 
made earth and sea, and was almighty and invisible. 
His wife was Anayicoyondi, a goddess who, though 
possessing no body, bore him in a divinely mysteri- 
ous manner three children, one of whom, Quaayayp, 
was a real man and born on earth, on the Acaragui 

355 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

mountains. Very powerful this young god was, and for a 
long time he lived with the ancestors of the Pericues, 
whom it is almost to be inferred that he created ; at 
any rate we are told that he was able to make men, 
drawing them up out of the earth. The men at last 
killed their great hero and teacher, and put a crown of 
thorns upon his head. Somewhere or other he remains 
lying dead to this day ; and he remains constantly beau- 
tiful, neither does his body know corruption. Blood 
drips constantly from his wounds ; and though he can 
speak no more, being dead, yet there is an owl that 
speaks to him. 

The other god was called Wac, or Tuparan. Ac- 
cording to the Niparaya sect, this Wac had made war 
on their favourite god, and had been by him defeated and 
cast forth from heaven into a cave under the earth, of 
which cave the whales of the sea were the guardians. 
With a perverse, though not unnatural, obstinacy, the 
sect that took Wac or Tuparan for their great god 
persisted in holding ideas peculiar to themselves with 
regard to the truth of the foregoing story, and their 
account of the great war in heaven and its results 
differed from the other as differ the creeds of hetero- 
dox and orthodox everywhere ; they ascribe, for 
example, part of the creation to other gods besides 
Niparaya. 

Myths of the Athapascans 

The great Athapascan family, who inhabit a vast ex- 
tent of territory stretching north from the fifty-fifth 
parallel nearly to the Arctic Ocean, and westward 
to the Pacific, with cognate ramifications to the far 
south, are weak in mythological conceptions. Regarding 
them Bancroft says : ^ 

^ The Native Races of the Pacific States, vol. iii. 
3S6 



MYTHS OF THE ATHAPASCANS 

" They do not seem in any of their various tribes to 
have a single expressed idea with regard to a supreme 
power. The Loucheux branch recognize a certain 
personage, resident in the moon, whom they suppli- 
cate for success in starting on a hunting expedition. 
This being once lived among them as a poor ragged 
boy that an old woman had found and was bringing 
up ; and who made himself ridiculous to his fellows 
by making a pair of very large snow-shoes ; for the 
people could not see what a starveling like him should 
want with shoes of such unusual size. Times of 
great scarcity troubled the hunters, and they would 
often have fared badly had they not invariably on such 
occasions come across a new broad trail that led to a 
head or two of freshly killed game. They were glad 
enough to get the game and without scruples as to its 
appropriation ; still they felt curious as to whence it 
came and how. Suspicion at last pointing to the boy 
and his great shoes as being in some way implicated in 
the affair, he was watched. It soon became evident 
that he was indeed the benefactor of the Loucheux, 
and the secret hunter whose quarry had so often 
replenished their empty pots ; yet the people were far 
from being adequately grateful, and continued to treat 
him with little kindness or respect. On one occasion 
they refused him a certain piece of fat — him who had 
so often saved their lives by his timely bounty ! That 
night the lad disappeared, leaving only his clothes 
behind, hanging on a tree. He returned to them in a 
month, however, appearing as a man, and dressed as a 
man. He told them that he had taken up his home 
in the moon ; that he would always look down with a 
kindly eye to their success in hunting ; but he added 
that as a punishment for their shameless greed and 
ingratitude in refusing him the pie'»e of fat, all animals 

2A 357 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

should be lean the long winter through, and fat only 
in summer ; as has since been the case. 

" According to Hearne, the Tinneh believe in a kind 
of spirits, or fairies, called nantena^ which people the 
earth, the sea, and the air, and are instrumental for 
both good and evil. Some of them believe in a good 
spirit called Tihugun, ' my old friend,' supposed to 
reside in the sun and in the moon ; they have also 
a bad spirit, Chutsain, apparently only a personifica- 
tion of death, and for this reason called bad. 

" They have no regular order of shamans ; any one 
when the spirit moves him may take upon himself 
their duties and pretensions, though some by happy 
chances, or peculiar cunning, are much more highly 
esteemed in this regard than others, and are supported 
by voluntary contributions. The conjurer often shuts 
himself in his tent and abstains from food for days till 
his earthly grossness thins away, and the spirits and 
things unseen are constrained to appear at his behest. 
The young Tinneh care for none of these things ; the 
strong limb and the keen eye, holding their own well 
in the jostle of life, mock at the terrors of the invi- 
sible ; but as the pulses dwindle with disease or age, 
and the knees strike together in the shadow of im- 
pending death, the shaman is hired to expel the evil 
things of which a patient is possessed. Among the 
Tacullies a confession is often resorted to at this stage, 
on the truth and accuracy of which depend the chances 
of a recovery." 

Conclusion 

In concluding this survey of representative myths 
of the Red Race of North America, the reader will 
probably be chiefly impressed with the circumstance 
that although many of these tales exhibit a striking 
358 



CONCLUSION 

resemblance to the myths of European and Asiatic 
peoples they have yet an atmosphere of their own 
which strongly differentiates them from the folk-tales 
of all other races. It is a truism in mythology that 
although the tales and mythological systems of peoples 
dwelling widely apart may show much likeness to one 
another, such a resemblance cannot be advanced as a 
proof that the divergent races at some distant period 
possessed a common mythology. Certain tribes in 
Borneo live in huts built on piles driven into lake-beds 
and use blow-pipes ; so do some Indians of Guiana 
and contiguous countries ; yet no scientist of experi- 
ence would be so rash as to advance the theory that 
these races possessed a common origin. It is the same 
with mythological processes, which may have been 
evolved separately at great distances, but yet exhibit a 
marked likeness. These resemblances arise from the 
circumstance that the mind of man, whether he be 
situated in China or Peru, works on surprisingly 
similar lines. But, as has been indicated, the best 
proof that the myths of North America have not been 
sophisticated by those of Europe and Asia is the 
circumstance that the aboriginal atmosphere they con- 
tain is so marked that even the most superficial 
observer could not fail to observe its presence. In the 
tales contained in this volume the facts of Indian life, 
peculiar and unique, enter into every description and 
are inalienably interwoven with the matter of the story. 
In closing, the author desires to make a strong 
appeal for a reasoned and charitable consideration of 
the Indian character on the part of his readers. This 
noble, manly, and dignified race has in the past been 
grossly maligned, chiefly by persons themselves igno- 
rant and inspired by hereditary dislike. The Red 
Man is neither a monster of inhumanity nor a marvel 

359 



MYTHS OF THE AMERICAN INDIANS 

of cunning, but a being with like feelings and aspira- 
tions to our own. Because his customs and habits of 
thought differ from ours he has been charged with all 
manner of crimes and offences with which he has, 
in general, nothing to do. We do not deny that he 
was, till very recent times, a savage, with the habits 
and outlook of a savage. But that he ever was a 
demon in human shape must be strenuously denied. 
In the march of progress Indian men and women are 
to-day taking places of honour and emolument side by 
side with their white fellow-citizens, and many gifted 
and cultured persons of Indian blood have done good 
work for the race. Let us hope that the ancient virtues 
of courage and endurance which have stood the Indian 
people in such good stead of old will assist their 
descendants in the even more strenuous tasks of civili- 
zation to which they are now called. 



360 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The annexed bibliography, although full, is far from 
being exhaustive, but it is hoped that readers who 
desire to follow up the whole or any separate depart- 
ment of study connected with the Red Race of North 
America will find in it reference to many useful volumes. 
It is claimed that the list represents the best of the 
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363 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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36+ 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

BvTrETf, TrtOMAS C. : Life and A hen lures of a Quaker a nong the Indians 
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Beach, William W. : The Indian Miscellany : containing Papers on the 
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'' Customs, and Traditions of the Indians at the Missionary Establishment 

365 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

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366 



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Carver, Jonathan ; Travels through the Interior Parts of 'North America^ 
in the Years 1766, 1767, and 1768. London, 1778. 

Three Years through the Interior Parts of North America for more 

than Five Thousand Miles. Philadelphia, 1 796. 

Carver^ s Travels in Wisconsin. New York, 1838. 

Catlin, George : Illustrations of the Manners and Customs and Condition 
of the North American Indians. 2 vols. London, 1841. Ibid., 
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Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the 

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Mandans. Philadelphia, 1867. 

Champlain, Samuel de : Voyages : ou Journal des T)ecouvertes de la 
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Clark, W. P. : The Indian Sign Language. Philadelphia, 1885. 

Colden, Cadw^allader : The History of the Five Indian Nations oj 
Canada, which are dependent on the Province of New York, America. 
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CoNANT, A. J. : Footprints of Vanished Races in the Mississippi Valley 
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CoRTEZ, ]o%i, : History of the Apache Nations and other Tribes near the 
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CouEs, Elliott (Editor) : History of the Expedition of Lewis and Clark 

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A new edition, 4 vols. New York, 1893. 
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367 



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Curtis, Edward S. : The Americau Indian. 4 vols. New York, 
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Zufii Folk-tales. New Yorlc, 1 90 1 . 

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D0R8EY, George A. : Arapaho Sun Dance : The Ceremony oj the Oferings 
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368 



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DoRSEY, George A. : Traditions of the Osage. {^Publications of the 
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The Cheyenne. Part i.. Ceremonial Organization ; part ii.. The 

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The Pazunee : Mythology. Part i. (Carnegie Institution of 

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AND Kroeeer, a. L. : Traditions of the Arapaho. {Publications of 

the Field College Museum, Anthropological Series, vol. v. ; 
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DoRSEY, J. Owen : Osage Traditions. {Sixth Report, Bureau of Ameri- 
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Tbe Cegiha Language. {Contributions to North American Ethnology, 

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A Study ofSiouan Cults. {Eleventh Report, Bureau of American 

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Emerson, Ellen R. : Indian Myths ; or. Legends, Traditions, and 
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EwBANK, Thomas : North American Rock-writing. Morrisania, N.Y., 
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369 



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370 



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37J 



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NoRDENSKioLD, G. : CUff-dwellers of the Mesa Verde. Translated by 
D. Lloyd Morgan. Stockholm and Chicago, 1893. 

North-Western Tribes of Canada : Reports on the Physical Characters, 
Languages, Industrial and Social Condition of the North-Western 
Tribes oj the Dominion of Ca7iada. (In Reports of the British 
Association for the Advancement of Science, 1885-98 ; London, 
1886-99.) 

Payne, Edward J. : History of the New World called America. 2 vols. 
Oxford and New York, 1S92. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Peabody Museum of American Arch^-olocy and Ethnology : 
Archaological and Ethnological Papers, vols, i.-iii., 1888-1904. 
Memoirs, vols, i.-ili., 1 896-1904. Annual Reports, vols, i.-xxxvii., 
1 868-1 904. Cambridge, Mass. 

Penshallow, Samuel: The History of the Wars oj "New-England with 
the Eastern Indians. Boston, 1726. (Collections of the New 
Hampshire Historical Society, vol. i., Concord, 1824 ; reprmt, 
1871.) 

Perrot, Nicolas : Memoire sur les Ma-urs, Coutumes, et Religion des 
Sauvages de F Amerique Septentrionale,pubHe pour la premiere fois par 
le R.P. J. Tailhan. Leipzig and Paris, 1864. 

Petitot, Emile: Traditions indiennes du Canada Nord-Ouest. Alen9on, 
1887. 

PiDGEON, William: Traditions oj De-coO'dah ; and Antiquarian Re- 
searches, comprising extensive Explorations, Surveys, and Excavations 
of the Wonderful and Mysterious Remains of the Mound-builders in 
America. New York, 1858. 

Powers, Stephen : Tribes oj California. {Contributions to North 
American Ethnology, vo\. iii. ; Washington, 1877.) 

Rafn, K. C. : Antiquitates Americana. Copenhagen, 1837. 

Schoolcraft, Henry R. : Algic Researches. 2 vols. New York, 

1839. 
Historical and Statistical Information respecting the Indian Tribes of 

the United States. Philadelphia, 185 1-57. 

Short, John T. : North Americans of Antiquity. 2nd ed. New York, 

1880. 
SiMMs, S. C. : Traditions oj the Crows. {Publications of the Field College 

Museum, Anthropological Series, vol. ii., No. 6 ; Chicago, 1903.) 

Smith, Erminnie A. : Myths of the Iroquois. {Second Report, Bureau of 
American Ethnology; Washington, 1883.) 

Smith, John: Works, 1608. Edited by Edward Arber. English 
Scholar's Library, No. 16. Birmingham, 1884. 

Smithsonian Institution: Annual Reports, 1 846-1 908 ; Washington, 
1 847-1 909. Contributions to Knowledge,\oh.\.-yiyi\v.\ Washing- 
ton, 1 848- 1 907. Miscellaneous Collections, vols, i.-iv. ; Wash- 
ington, 1 862-19 10. 

Snelling, William J. : Tales oj the North-West: Sketches oj Indian 
Life and Character. Boston, 1830. 

2 B 373 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Stevenson, Matilda C. : The Zuni Indians ; their Mythology, Esoteric 
Fraternities, and Cerenmiies. {Twenty-third Report, Bureau of 
American Ethnology; Washington, 1904.) 

SwANTON, John R. : Haida Texts and Myths. {Bulletin 29, Bureau of 
American Ethnology; Washington, 1905.) 

Tlingit Myths and Texts. {Bulletin 39, Bureau of American 

Ethnology; Washington, 1909.) 

Thomas, Cyrus : Introduction to the Study of North American Archceology. 
Cincinnati, 1903. 

U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, 
F. V. Hayden in charge. Bulletins, vols, i.-vi. ; Washington, 
1874-82. Annual Reports, voh.i.-'w.; Washington, 1867-78. 

ViRCHow, Rudolf : Crania ethnica americana. Berlin, 1892. 

VoTH, H. R. : Oraibi Summer Snake Ceremony. {Publications of the 
Field College Museum, Anthropological Series, vol. iii.. No. 4 ; 
Chicago, 1903.) 

Waitz, Theodor : Anthropologte der Naturv'dlker. 4 Bd. Leipzig. 
1859-64. 

Warren, William W. : History of the Ojibtvays, based upon Traditions 
and Oral Statements. {Collections of the Minnesota Historical 
Society, vol. v. ; St. Paul, 1885.) 

Wheeler, Olin D. : The Trail of Lewis and Clark, 1 804-1904. 
2 vols. New York, 1904. 

Will, G. F., and Spinden, H. J.: The Mandans : Study of their 
Culture, Archeology, and Language. {Papers of the Peabody 
Museum of American Archseology and Ethnology, vol. iii., 
No. 4 ; Cambridge, Mass., 1906.) 

Winsor, Justin : Narrative and Critical History oj America. 8 vols. 
Boston and New York, 1884-89. 



374 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION 

Workers in Indian mythology and linguistics have in some instances 
created a phonology of their own for the several languages in which 
they wrought. But, generally speaking, the majority of Indian names, 
both of places and individuals, should be pronounced as spelt, the 
spelling being that of persons used to transcribing native diction and 
as a rule representing the veritable Indian pronunciation of the word. 

Among the North American Indians we find languages both harsh 
and soft. Harshness produced by a clustering of consonants is peculiar 
to the north-west coast of America, while the Mississippi basin and 
California possess languages rich in sonorous sounds. A slurrmg of 
terminal syllables is peculiar to many American tongues. 

The vocabularies of American languages are by no means scanty, 
as is often mistakenly supposed, and their grammatical structure is 
intricate and systematic. The commonest traits in American lan- 
guages are the vagueness of demarcation between the noun and 
verb, the use of the intransitive form of the verb for the adjective, and 
the compound character of independent pronouns. A large number 
of ideas are expressed by means of either af&xes or stem-modification. 
On account of the frequent occurrence of such elements American 
languages have been classed as ' polysynthetic' 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Abnaki. a tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 25 

Aborigines, American. Theories 
as to the origin of, 5-13, 17- 
22 

AcAGCHEMEM. A Califomian 
people ; myths of, 350-355 

Adam of Bremen. And Norse 
voyages to America, 16 

At. The first woman, in an Acag- 
chemem creation-myth, 353 

Ahsonnutli. Principal deity 
of the Navaho, called the Tur- 
quoise Man-woman, 121-122 

Akaiyan. a brave; in Algonquian 
legend of the origin of the 
Beaver Medicine, 184-187 

Aleutian Indians. Custom of, 
resembles that of Asiatic tribe, 
II 

Algon. a hunter ; in the story 
of the Star-maiden, 152-156 

Algonquian Stock. An ethnic 
division of the American In- 
dians, 24-27 

Algonquins. The name applied 
to members of the Algonquian 
stock, 24 «. ; tribes and distribu- 
tion of, 24-25 ; early history, 
25 ; an advanced people, 26 ; 
costume of, 58 ; marriage- 
customs of, 7^ ; creation-myth 
of, 107-108 ; belief of, respect- 
ing birds, no; belief of, re- 
specting lightning, 112; and the 
'owl. III ; and the serpent of 
the Great Lakes, 113; Michabo 
the chief deity of, 1 19-120 ; 
and the soul's journey after 
death, 129 ; the festivals of, 
133 ; dialect of the priests of, 
136; myths and legends of, 
1 41-216 ; conflict with the 
Caniengas, 225 , subdued by 
the Iroquois, 227 ; and the 
King of Rattlesnakes, 248 

Allouez, Father. Incident 

connected with, related by 
Brinton, loo-ioi 



America. Origin of man in, 5-22 ; 
resemblance between tribes of, 
and those of Asia, 6, 10-12 ; 
discoveries of prehistoric re- 
mains in, 7-10 ; early commu- 
nication between Asia and, 6, 12 

Anayicovondi. a goddess of the 
Pericues, wife of Niparaya, 355 

Animism, 80 

Annimikens. a brave ; hunting 
adventure of, 55 

Apaches. A tribe of the Atha- 
pascan stock, 22 ; of Arizona, 
houses of, 47 ; costume of, 59 ; 
fetishes of, 89-90 ; and the 
points of the compass, 131 

Apalachees. a tribe of the 
Muskhogean stock, 27 

Apisirahts (The Morning Star). 
Son of the Sun-god, in Black- 
foot myth ; in the stories of 
Scar-face, or Poia, 198-205 

Arapaho. a tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 25 ; dwellings of, 
48 

Argall, Captain Samuel. Men- 
tioned in the story of Poca- 
hontas, 32, 36 

Arikara. a tribe of the Caddoan 
stock, 28 

Art, Indian, 62-63 

AsGAYA GiGAGEi (Red Man). A 
thunder-god of the Cherokees, 
126 

AsHOCHiMi. A Califomian tribe; 
Coyote, a deity of, 124 

Asia. Ethnological relationship 
between America and, 6, lo- 

13 

AssiNiBOiNS. A tribeof theSiouan 
stock, 28 ; their method of 
cooking flesh, 1 1 

Athapascans. An ethnic division 
of the American Indians, 22- 
23 ; costume of, 58 ; and the 
soul's journey after death, 129 

Atius Tirawa. Principal deity 
of the Pawnees, 122 ; in the 
story of the Sacred Bundle, 
307 ; in the story of the Bear- 
man, 308, 310, 311 

377 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Atotarho. a legendary hero of 
the Iroquois, chieftain of the 
Onondagcis, 217, 225-226 ; Hia- 
watha a warrior under, 225 ; 
at first opposes Hiawatha's 
federation scheme, but later 
joins in it, 226 

Attajen (Man, or Rational 
Being). In Acagchemem myth, 
a semi-divine being, a bene- 
factor of the human race, 354 

AuGHEY, Dr. Prehistoric remains 
discovered by, 8 

AuzAR. In Acagchemem myth, 
reputed mother of Ouiamot, 

354 

AwoNAWiLONA (Maker and Con- 
tainer of All). The Zuiii crea- 
tive deity, 106, 121 

Aztecs. An aboriginal American 
race ; the Shoshoneans related 
to, 29 



Babeens. a tribe of the Atha- 
pascan stock ; carvings of, 63 

Bancroft, H. H. On the mytho- 
logical beliefs of the Calif ornian 
tribes, 348-350 ; on the beliefs 
of the Tinneh, 357-358 

Bartram, W. On the priesthood 
of the Creeks, 1 36 

Bear Dance. Pawnee cere- 
monial ; story of the originator 
of the, 308-311 

Bear, The Great. In Blackfoot 
legend of the origin of the Bear- 
spear, 188-190 

Bear-man. The story of the, 308- 

311 

Bear-spear. Blackfoot legend 
of the origin of, 187-190 

Bearskin -WOMAN. The story of, 
182-184 

Beaver. I. A creative deity of 
the Sioux, chief of the Beaver 
family ; Ictinike and, 269-270, 
271. II. InHaidamyth; story 
of the feud between Porcupine 
and, 318-320 

Beaver, The Great (Quah-beet). 
Algonquian totem-deity ; in 
myth of Glooskap and Malsum, 



1 42 ; in legend of origin of the 
Beaver Medicine, 185-187 

Beaver, Little. In legend of 
origin of the Beaver Medicine, 
185-187 

Beaver Medicine. Legend of the 
origin of, 184-187 

Beaver People. The beavers 
personified, in Haida myth ; 
in the story of Beaver and 
Porcupine, 318-320 

Big Water. The Pacific Ocean ; 
in the story of Scar-face, 203 

Bird, The. In Indian mythology, 
109-11 I 

Black Tortoise, Tomb of the. 
An earth-mound, 19-20 

Blackfeet. a tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 24, 25 ; legends 
of, 182-184, 187-190, 193-212 ; 
the Sun Dance of, 204 ; N4pi, 
the creative deity of, 205 

Blue Jay. A mischievous totem- 
deity of the Chinooks, 124-125, 
323 ; stories of, and his sister 
loi, 323-327 ; and the Super- 
natural People, 323-324, 327, 
329-332, 339-340 ; in the story 
of Stikua, 342-348 

Boas, Franz. Extract from 
version of the Coyote myth 
related by, 124 

Boscana, Father Ger6nimo. 
On the beliefs of Californian 
tribes, 3 50-3 54 

BouRBEUSE River. Prehistoric 
remains discovered at, 7 

Bourke, J. G. Description of an 
Apache fetish by, 89-90 ; on 
' phylacteries ' (fetishes), 90 

Boy Magician. The story of the, 
238-242 

Br6beuf, Father. Incident con- 
nected with, related by Brin- 
ton, 100 ; and the after-life of 
the Indians, 1 30 

Brinton, D. G. On the Shosho- 
neans, 29 ; extract from trans- 
lation of the W alluin-Olum by, 
77-7i ; on the religion of the 
Indians, 97-101 ; on Indian 
' good ' and ' bad ' gods, 104- 
105 ; on Indian veneration of 
the eagle, i lo-iii 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Bruyas, Father. Mentioned, 104 

Buffalo Dance. A festival of 
the Mandans, 134-135 

Buffalo-stealer. The legend 
of, 208-312 

Bundles, Sacred. Collections of 
articles supposed to possess 
magical potency, 92, 308 

Bureau of American Ethno- 
logy. Quotations from Bulle- 
tins of, 17, 21, 45-49, 55-59 

Burial Customs, Indian, 128 

Busk. A contraction for Push- 
kita, name of a Creek festival, 

133-134 
BwoiNAis. A Chippeway warrior ; 
war-songs of, 71-72 



Caddo. I. An ethnic division of 
the American Indians, 28, 304. 
II. A tribe forming a part of 
the stock of the same name, 28 

Cahrocs. a Californian tribe ; 
deities of, 349-350 

' Calaveras ' Skull. Prehistoric 
relic ; discovery of, 8 

California. Prehistoric remains 
discovered in, 8 ; the tribes of, 
diversity among, 348 ; mytho- 
logical beliefs of the tribes of, 
348-356 

Caniengas. One of the two poli- 
tical divisions of the Iroquois 
family, 225 

Carver, Captain Jonathan. On 
Sioux methods of reckoning 
time, 132 

Catlin, G. On the Pipe-stone 
Quarry, 116, 117-118 

Cayugas. a tribe of the Iroquois 
stock, 224 

Chacopee, or White Feather. A 
Sioux hero ; the story of, 296- 
301 

Chareya (The Old Man Above). 
Deity of the Cahrocs, 350 

Charlevoix, P. On incident 
relating to origin of the Indians, 
12 

Cherokees. a tribe of the 
Iroquois stock, 23 ; as mound- 



builders, 21 ; and the eagle, 
III; and the owl, 1 1 1 ; hunter- 
and thunder-gods of, 125-126; 
and the points of the compass, 
131 ; and the priesthood, 136 ; 
dialect of the priesthood of, 
136 ; subdued by the Iroquois, 
227 ; the Iroquois attacks on, 
246 ; and the King of Rattle- 
snakes, 248 ; their legend of 
the origin of medicine, 249- 
251 

Cheyenne. A tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 25 ; the great 
tribal fetish of, 91 

Chickasaws. a tribe of the 
Muskhogean stock, 27 ; and 
earth-mounds, 21 

Chilkat. a tribe of the Thlingit 
stock; costume of, 58 

Chimpseyans. An ethnic division 
of the American Indians ; carv- 
ings of, 63 

Chinigchinich (Almighty). Deity 
of the Acagchemems, called also 
Ouiamot, 352, 354-355 

Chinooks. a tribe of the Chi- 
nookan stock, 322 ; Coyote a 
principal deity of, 123, 124; 
Blue Jay a deity of, 124 ; mode 
of burial of, 128 ; belief of , re- 
garding the soul, 129; cranial 
deformation among, 322 ; myths 
of, 322-348 ; story of their 
contests with the Supernatural 
People, 329-332 

Chippeways, or Ojibways. A 
tribe of the Algonquian stock, 
25 ; dwellings of, 48 ; carvings 
of, 63 ; called ' Pillagers,' 68 ; 
war-customs of, 68-69 ; ^ 
legend of, 1 52-1 56 ; Manabozho 
(or Michabo a demi-god of, 
223 

Choctaws. a tribe of the Mus- 
khogean stock, 27 ; cranial de- 
formation among, 27 ; dialect 
of the priesthood of, 1 36 

Church, Captain Benjamin. One 
of the early settlers ; his 
methods in fighting the Indians, 

31 
Chutsain. a malevolent spirit of 

theTinneh, 358 

379 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



City of the Mists. Home of 
Po-shai-an-K'ia, the father of 
the Zuni ' medicine ' societies, 95 

Clallams. a tribe of the Salish 
stock ; carvings of, 63 

Clarke, J. On the Pipe-stone 
Quarry, 11 6-1 17 

Cliff- and Rock-dwellings, 48- 

49 
Cloud-carrier. The story of, 

156-159 
CocoPA. A tribe of the Yuman 

stock ; dwellings of, 47 ; costume 

of. 59 

Colorado. Prehistoric remains 
discovered in, 8 

Colours. The Indians and, 60- 
62 

Columbus. And the Discovery, 
I, 2 

CoMANCHES. A tribe of the Sho- 
shonean stock, 28 ; dwellings of, 
48 

Community Houses, 45-47 

Compass, Points of the. Signi- 
ficance to the Indians, 131 

CoNANT, A. J. On the group of 
earth-mounds in Minnesota, 20 

Conqueror, The. A deity men- 
tioned in the myth of Coyote 
and Kodoyanpe, 123 

Costume of the Indians, 55-59 

Country of the Ghosts. Same 
as Spirit-land, which see 

Coyote. See Italapas 

Coyote People, The Great. A 
Zuni clan, 95-96 

Cranial Deformation. Prac- 
tised among the Muskhogeans, 
27 ; among the Choctaws, 27 ; 
among the Chinooks, 322 

Creation-myths, 106-109, 350- 

353 

Creeks. A tribe of the Mus- 
khogean stock, 27 ; and earth- 
mounds, 21 ; and the eagle, 
1 10 ; and the owl, iii ; Esau- 
getuh Emissee, the chief deity 
of, 122 ; the Pushkita, a fes- 
tival of, 133-134; the priests 
of, 136 

Crees. a tribe of the Algonquian 
stock, 25 ; legend of origin of 
their Young Dog Dance, 190- 

380 



193 ; how they caught eagles, 
190-191 
Crows. A tribe of the Siouan 
stock ; in a Blackfoot legend, 
193-196 



D 



Dakota. An ethnic division of the 
American Indians, same as 
Sioux, which see 

Day of the Council of the 
Fetishes. A Zuiii fetish fes- 
tival, 96 

Day-and-Night Myth. A Black- 
foot, 205-208 

Dekanewidah. a Mohawk chief- 
tain ; assists Hiawatha in his 
federation scheme, 226 

Dela WARES. A tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 25 ; in the story 
of Frances Slocum, 37-38, 41 

D6n6. Same as Tinneh, which 
see 

Devil. In Indian mythology, 349 

Devil Dances, 135 

Devil's Castle. Place in Siski- 
you, California ; regarded by 
natives as abode of malignant 
spirits, 349 

Devil-fish. Supernatural beings 
in Haida myth ; story of an 
Indian and the daughter of a, 
320-321 

Devouring Hill. The story of 
the Rabbit and the, 302-303 

Dickson, Dr. Discovery of pre- 
historic remains by, 7 

Dighton Writing Rock, 16 

Dju. A river mentioned in Haida 
myth, 314 

DoGRiB Indians. A tribe of the 

Athapascan stock ; myth of 

heaven -climber resembles that 

of Ugrian tribes of Asia, 1 1 

Drowned Child. The story of 

the, 285-287 
Dwellings, Indian, 45-49 



Eagle. Indian veneration for, 

I lO-III 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



EjoNi. The first man, in an 
Acagchemem creation - myth, 
353 

Elegant. An Indian beau ; in 
the story of Handsome, 160-162 

Eno (Thief and Cannibal). A 
name of Coyote among the 
Acagchemem tribes, 351 

Es-TONEA-PESTA (The Lord of 
Cold Weather). In the story of 
the Snow-lodge, i 51-152 

EsAUGETUH Emissee (Master of 
Breath). Supreme deity of the 
Muskhogees, 122 ; in creation- 
myth, 108 

Eyacque (Sub-captain). A name 
of Coyote among the Acag- 
chemem tribes, 351 



Face-painting, 59-62 

Fairy Wives. The story of the, 

170-175 
Feather-woman. A beautiful 

maiden ; in the legend of Poia, 

200-203 
Feather-work. Indian skill in, 

63 

Festivals, Indian, 133-135 

Fetishism. Swanton on totemism 
and, 84-85; origin and nature 
of the fetish, 87-89 ; Apache 
fetishes, 89-90 ; Iroquoian 
fetishes, 91 ; Huron fetishes, 
91 ; Algonquian fetishes, 91 ; 
the Cheyenne tribal fetish, 91 ; 
Hidatsa fetishes, 92 ; Siouan 
fetishes, 92 ; Hopi fetishes, 
92-93 ; Zuhi fetishism, 93-97 ; 
fetishism associated with totem- 
ism, 93 

Fewkes, J. W. And fetishes of 
the Hopi, 92 

Fine-weather-woman. Haida 
storm-deity ; in the myth of 
the origin of certain demi- 
gods, 314 ; origin of, as the 
mother of Sifi, 314-316 

Five Nations, The. A federation 
of the Iroquois, called also the 
Grand League, 23, 24 ; the tribes 
composing, 23, 224-225 ; Hia- 



watha the founder of the league, 
23 ; influence upon European 
history, 223, 227 ; called also 
Six Nations and Seven Nations, 
224 ; Hiawatha's early efforts 
toward federation, 225 ; the 
federation inaugurated, and 
completed, 226; growth of the 
power of, 227 ; the Peace 
Queen appointed by, 263 ; the 
office of Peace Queen abolished, 
265 

Flatheads. Name applied to the 
Choctaws by the whites, 27 

Fletcher, Miss A. C. On dwell- 
ings of the Omaha, 48 

Flying Squirrel. A creative 
deity of the Sioux ; Ictinike 
and, 271 

Foxes. A tribe of the Algonquian 
stock, 25, 71 

Friendly Skeleton. The story 
of the, 242-246 

Future Life. The Indian idea 
of, 127 



Gobelin, Court de. And the 
Dighton Writing Rock, 1 6 

Genetaska. a Peace Queen ; the 
legend of, 262-265 

Ghost People. The souls of the 
dead, the inhabitants of Spirit- 
land, 129, 130; loi and Blue 
Jay among, 324-326, 327 

Ghost-land. Same as Spirit- 
land, which see 

GiLA-SoNORA. An ethnic division 
of the American Indians ; cos- 
tume of, 59 

Gitshe Iawba. a Chippeway 
brave ; hunting exploit of, 54- 

55 
Glooskap (The Liar). A creative 
deity of the Algonquins, twin 
with Malsum, 141 ; his con- 
test with Malsum, 1 41-142 ; 
resembles the Scandinavian 
Balder, 142 ; creates man, 143 ; 
contest with Win-pe, 143-144 ; 
his gifts to man, 144-145 ; and 
Wasis, the baby, 145-146 ; 

381 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



leaves the earth, 146-147 ; 
a sun-god, 147 ; and Summer 
and Winter, 147-149 ; his ' wig- 
wam,' 149 
God. The Indian idea of, loi 
Gods, Indian. Character of, 103- 
105 ; description of the prin- 
cipal, 1 18-126 
Grand Council of the Five 

Nations, 224, 226 
Grand League, or Kayanerenh 
KowA. A federation of the 
Iroquois, known also as the 
Five Nations. See under Five 
Nations 
Great Dog. A totem- deity, 137 
Great Eagle. A totem-deity, 

137 
Great Head. A malevolent being, 

in Iroquois myth ; a legend of, 

232-235 
Great Man. Name for a chief 

deity among Californian tribes, 

348 
Great Spirit The, or Manito. 

Supreme Indian deity ; and 

the origin of smoking, 1x6 
Great Water. The Pacific ; in 

the story of the Snake-wife, 

290, 292 
Greatest Fool. Supernatural 

being in Haida myth ; in the 

story of Master-carpenter and 

South-east, 317 
Greenland. Early voyages from, 

to America, 13, 14-16 



H 



Haida. A tribe of the Skittagetan 
stock j houses of, 46-47 ; myths 
and legends of, 312-321 

Hampton Institute. And educa- 
tion of the Indians, 79 

Handsome. A beautiful maiden ; 
the story of, i 59-162 

Haokah. Thunder-god of the 
Sioux, 125 

' Harrying of Hades.' Ameri- 
can Indian myth provides ex- 
amples of, 332, 340-341 

Healing Waters. The legend of 
the, 257-260 

382 



Hellu-land (Land of Flat 
Stones). In legend of Norse 
voyage to America, 14, 15 

Herbert, Sir Thomas. His 
Travels quoted, 4-5 

Herjulfson, Biarne. And the 
Norse discovery of America, 

13-14 
Hiawatha (more properly Hai- 
en-Wat-ha ; = He who seeks 
the Wampum-belt). A legen- 
dary hero of the Iroquois, 217, 
223-228 ; represented also 
as of Algonquian race, 223 ; 
effect of Longfellow's poem on 
the history of, 223 ; Long- 
fellow's confusion in identity 
of, 223 ; historical basis for the 
legends, 223 ; founder of the 
League of the Five Nations, 223- 

224 ; a warrior under Atotarho, 

225 ; his plans for federation, 
225 ; adopted into the Mohawk 
tribe, 226 ; his scheme con- 
summated, 226 

Hidatsa. a tribe of the Sioux ; 

fetishes of, 92 ; have no belief 

in a devil or hell, 104 
Hi'nun. Thunder-god of the 

Iroquois, 217 ; myths relating 

to, 218-222 ; great veneration 

for, 222 

HOBBAMOCK, or HOBBAMOQUI 

(Great). Beneficent Indian 
deity, 105 

Hoffmann, W. J. On Algonquian 
fetishes, 91 

Hogan. An Indian dwelling, 49 

Hopi, or MoQUi. A tribe of the 
Shoshonean stock ; as cotton- 
weavers, 56, 73 ; fetishes of, 
92-93 ; festivals of, 135 

Hunting, Indian, 50-55 

Hupa. a tribe of the Athapascan 
stock ; costume of, 59 ; method 
of reckoning age, 133 

HuRONS. A tribe of the Iroquois 
stock, 23 ; marriage among, 
73 ; fetishes of, 91 ; the dove 
regarded as sacred by, 1 1 1 ; and 
the soul's journey after death, 
129 ; originally one people with 
the Iroquois, 224 ; in the con- 
flict between the Caniengas and 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Algonquins, 225 ; war with the 
Onondagas, 225; annihilated 
by the Iroquois, 227 ; a legend 
of. 248 



Ice-country. In Algonquian 

myth, 147 

IcTiNiKE. An evil spirit, in Sioux 
myth ; adventures of, 266- 
271 

Illinois. A tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock ; in a Seneca legend, 
236-238 

' Indian.' The name wrongly 
applied to the North American 
races, i 

Indiana. Primitive implements 
found in, 7 ; earth-mounds 
found in, 17, 18 

Indians, North American. The 
theory that they came from the 
East, 1-2 ; early controversy 
as to origin of, 2-3 ; identified 
with the lost Ten Tribes, 3 ; 
other theories of origin of, 4 ; 
theory of their Welsh origin, 4-5 ; 
origination of American man in 
the Old World, 5-6 ; scientific 
data relating to origin of, 5-13, 
17-22 ; affinities with Siberian 
peoples, 10-12 ; probably mi- 
grants from Asia, 12-13 ; ethnic 
divisions of, 22-29 ; geographi- 
cal distribution of the tribes 
of, 22-29 ; industry of, 26 ; 
early wars between whites and, 
29-31 ; early relationship with 
whites, 29-30 ; deportation of, 
as slaves, 31 ; confinement 
of, to 'reservations,' 31 - 32 ; 
stories of whites and, 32-45 ; 
and kidnapping of white chil- 
dren, 36-45 ; dwellings of, 45-- 
49 ; tribal law and custom 
among, 50 ; hunting among, 
50-55 ; dress of, 55-59 ; and 
face-painting, 59-62 ; and 
colours, 60-62 ; art of, 62- 
63 ; war-customs of, 63-72 ; 
position of women among, 72- 
73 ; marriage among, 73 ; and 
child-life, 73-74 ; and totemism, 



74-76, 80-87 ; picture-writing 
among, 76-78 ; enlightenment 
of> 79. 360; and fetishism, 87- 
97 ; and religion, 97-105, 140 ; 
ideas of God, loi ; character of 
gods of, 103-105 ; creation- 
myths of, 106-109 ; serpent- 
and bird-worship among, 109- 
115; and the use of tobacco, 
115-118; the gods of, 1 1 8-1 26 ; 
and ideas of a future life, 127- 
12S ; burial customs of, 128 ; 
and the soul's journey after 
death, 129 ; and the spirit- 
world, 129-130, 139-140 ; rever- 
ence for the four points of 
the compass, 131 ; methods of 
time-reckoning, 1 31-133 ; fes- 
tivals of, 132, 133-135 ; the 
medicine-men of, 135-140; 
original character of the mytho- 
logies of, 359 ; worthiness of 
the race, 359-360 
1 01. A deity of the Chinooks, 
sister of Blue Jay ; stories of, 

323-327 

losKEHA (White One). One of 
the twin-gods of the Iroquois, 
121 

lowA. I. The State ; prehistoric 
remains discovered in, 8. II. 
A tribe of the Sioux stock, 266 ; 
legends of, 266-271 

Iroquois (Real Adders), An 
ethnic division of the American 
Indians, called also Long House 
People, 23-24, 224 ; the Five 
Nations of, 23, 24, 223-227 ; 
community houses of, 45 ; cos- 
tume of, 58 ; marriage customs 
of, 73 ; name for fetish, 85 ; and 
the serpent of the Great Lakes, 
113; the twin-gods of, 121; 
and the soul's journey after 
death, 129 ; myths and legends 
of, 217-265 ; Hi'nun, the chief 
deity of, 217 ; Hiawatha, a 
mythical hero of, 217 ; origi- 
nally one people with the 
Hurons, 224 ; the two political 
branches of, 224-225 ; growth 
of the power of, 227 

Iroquois Confederacy. See Five 
Nations 

383 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Island of the Blessed. In the 
story of the Spirit -bride, 163- 
165 

Italapas or Italapate, (Coyote). 
A principal deity of the Chi- 
nooks and Californian tribes, 
123-124, 350 ; in the myth of 
Ouiot, 351 



Japazaws. a chief, 32 
Jews. American aborigines iden- 
tified with, 3-4 



K 



Katcina. a clan of the Hopi tribe , 
and the tribal festivals, 135 

Kayanerenh Kowa. The Grand 
League, or Five Nations, a 
federation of the Iroquois. See 
under Five Nations 

Kentucky. Earth-mounds found 
in, 18 

Kewawkqu'. a race of giants and 
magicians, in Algonquian myth ; 
conquered by Glooskap, 145 

KicHAi. A tribe of the Caddoan 
stock, 28 

KiCKAPOOS. A tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 25 

Kidnapping Isy Indians, 36 ; a 
story of, 37-45 

Kiehtan. Beneficent Indian 
deity, 105 

King of Grubs. In the myth of 
the Thunderers, 222 

King of Rattlesnakes. The 
legend of, 248 

King Philip's War, 30-31 

Kingfisher. A creative deity of 
the Sioux ; Ictinike and, 271 

KiNGSBOROUGH, LoRD. And the 
identity of the American abori- 
gines, 3 

KiowA. An ethnic division of the 
American Indians ; dwellings 
of, 48 ; picture-writing records 
of. 77 ', the year of, 1 32 

Kittanitowit. a manufactured 
name for the supreme Indian 
deity, 105 

384 



KocH, Dr. Prehistoric remains 
discovered by, 7 

Kodoyanpe. Principal deity of 
the Maidu, 123, 124 

KoHL, J. G. On Indian face- 
painting, 59-62 

KoKOMiKis. The Moon-goddess, 
wife of the Sun-god ; in the 
stories of Scar -face, 199-204 

KoLuscHES. An ethnic division of 
the American Indians ; customs 
of, resemble those of Asiatic 
tribes, lo-i i 

Kootenay. An ethnic division of 
the American Indians ; Coyote 
the creative deity of, 124 

KuM. A semi-subterranean lodge 
of the Maidu, 47 

Kutoyis (Drop of Blood). A hero 
in Algonquian myth ; legends 
of, 212-216 



Lake Superior. Prehistoric re- 
mains discovered in district of, 8 

Land of the Sun. Indian abode 
of bliss, 127 

Land of the Supernatural 
People. Region inhabited by 
a semi-divine race, 129-130 ; in 
Chinook myth, 323-324, 327- 
332, 337-338 

Language. Resemblance between 
that of American and Asiatic 
tribes, 12 ; the basis of ethnic 
classification of American tribes, 
22 

Leif the Lucky. Legend of 
voyage of, to America, 14-15 

Leland, C. G. On Algonquian 
mythology, 143 

Leni-Lenap^. a tribe of the 
Algonquian stock ; the Wallum- 
Olum of, 77-7^ 

Lightning. Indian belief regard- 
ing, 111-112 

Lipans. A tribe of the Athapas- 
can stock, 22 

Little Deer. Chief of the Deer 
tribe, in Cherokee myth, 249, 2 50 

Little Men. Twin thunder- 
gods of the Cherokees, 126 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Lone-dog Winter-count, A 
picture-writing chronicle of the 
Dakota, j-j 

Long House People. A name 
applied to the Iroquois, 224, 
227 

Longfellow, H. W. And the 
identity of Hiawatha, 223 

Lord of the Dead. Indian 
deity ; the owl sometimes re- 
presented as the attendant of, 
112 

LoucHEux. A division of the 
Tinneh stock ; the myth of 
the moon-god of, 357-358 

Lox, or LoKi. Algonquian deity, 
a reincarnation of Malsum, 143 ; 
reminiscent of the Scandinavian 
Loki, 143 ; in the story of the 
Fairy Wives, 174-175 

Lyell, Sir Charles. On dis- 
covery of prehistoric remains, 7 



M 



Ma-con-a-qua. The Indian name 
of Frances Slocum, 44 

Madoc. Legend of, 4 

Maidu. a Calif ornian tribe ; 
dwellings of, 47 ; creation-myth 
of, 123 ; Coyote and Kodo- 
yanpe deities of, 123 ; the 
seasons of, 133 

Maize. Chippeway story of the 
origin of, 180-182 

Maker - of -the - thick-sea-mist. 
Haida deity ; in the story 
of Master-carpenter and South- 
east, 318 

Malicious Mother - in - law. 
Story of the, 176-180 

Malsum (The Wolf). A malignant 
creative deity of the Algon- 
quins, twin with Glooskap, 141- 
143, 149 ; contest with Gloos- 
kap, I 41 -142 ; appears later 
in Algonquian myth as Lox, 
or Loki, 143 ; future conflict 
with Glooskap, 149 

Man. Origin of, in America, 5- 
22 

Manabozho. Same as Michabo, 
II, which see 



Mandans. a tribe of the Siouan 
stock ; community houses of, 
45 ; creation-myth of, 109 ; the 
dove regarded as sacred by, 
112 ; the Buffalo Dance, a 
festival of , 134-135 

Manito (The Great Spirit). L 
Supreme deity of the Algon- 
quins, probably same as Micha- 
bo ; and the lightning, 112. 
II. A general term for a potent 
spirit or the supernatural among 
the Algonquins and Sioux, 
114. III. Supreme deity ot 
the Iroquois ; in the legend of 
the Healing Waters, 257-260 

Mark-land (Wood-land). In 
legend of the Norse voyage to 
America, 14, i 5 

Marriage among the Indians, 73 

Marten. An idle brave ; in the 
story of the Fairy Wives, 170- 
172 

Mason, John. One of the early 
settlers ; and the feud with 
the Pequots, 30 

Master of Life. In the story of 
the Spirit-bride, 164 

Master-carpenter. A super- 
natural being, in Haida myth ; 
story of his contest with South- 
east, 316-318 

Meda. a ' medicine ' society of 
the Algonquins, 1 1 9 

Meda Chant. An Algonquian 
religious ceremony, 114 

Medecolin. Sorcerers, in Algon- 
quian myth ; conquered by 
Glooskap, 145 

Medicine-men, or Shamans, 135- 
140 ; as priests, 136 ; as healers, 
136-138; 'journeys' of, to 
Spirit-land, 139-140 ; instituted 
by Attajen, 354 

' Medicine.' A term signifying 
magical potency, usually of a 
healing order ; Seneca legend 
of the origin of, 230-232 ; 
Cherokee legend of the origin 
of curative medicine, 249-251 

Men-serpents. The story of the, 
273-275 

Menominees. a tnbe of the 
Algonquian stock, 2 5 

385 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Miami. A tribe of the Algonquian 
stock ; in the story of Frances 
Slocum, 40, 41 

Mice. Two supernatural beings 
in Chinook myth, 339-340 

MiCHABO (The Great Hare). I. 
Supreme deity of the Algon- 
quins, probably same as Manito, 
1 19-120 ; in creation-myth, 
107-108. II. A demi-god of 
the Ojibways, called also Mana- 
bozho ; confusion of. with 
Hiawatha, 223 

MiCMACS. A tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 25 ; subdued by 
the Iroquois, 227 

Milky Way. Called the Wolf- 
trail by the Indians, 204 

Minas, Lake. In Nova Scotia ; 
Glooskap leaves the earth upon, 
146 

Minnesota. Primitive imple- 
ments found in, 7 ; earth- 
mounds found in, 18, 19-20 

Minnetarees. a tribe of the 
Hidatsa stock ; creation-myth 
of, 109 

' Miocene Bridge.' And the 
origin of man in America, 6 

Mohave. A tribe of the Yuman 
stock ; costume of, 59 

Mohawks. A tribe of the Iro- 
quois stock, 24, 224, 225 ; and 
the twin-gods myth of the 
Iroquois, 121 ; Hiawatha may 
have belonged to, 223, 226 ; 
Hiawatha adopted into, 226 

Mohegans. Same as Mohicans, 
which see 

Mohicans, or Mohegans. A 
tribe of the Algonquian stock, 
25 ; a community house of, 45 ; 
subdued by the Iroquois, 227 

Mon-da-min. The maize-plant ; 
story of the origin of, 180-182 

MoNTAGNAis. A tribe of the 
Algonquian stock, 25 

Moon-goddess. See Kokomikis 

Moose. A brave, a great hunter ; 
in the story of the Fairy Wives, 
170-172 

Moowis. a counterfeit brave ; 
in the story of Elegant and 
Handsome, 161-162 

386 



MoQUi. Same as Hopi, which see 
Morgan, L. On Indian commu- 
nity houses, 45-46 
Morning Star. See Apisirahts 
Mounds. Prehistoric earthen 
erections found in America, 17- 
22; in animal form, 17-18; 
purpose of, 18 ; contents of, 
18-19, 21 ; description of a 
group, 19-20 ; the builders of, 
20-21 ; age of, 21-22 
Musk-rat. A creative deity of 
the Sioux ; Ictinike and, 270- 
271 
Muskhogeans. An ethnic divi- 
sion of the American Indians, 
27 ; costume of, 58 ; marriage- 
customs of, 73 ; creation-myth 
of, 108 



N 



Nakotat. a Chinook village ; 
in the myth of Stiktia, 341, 345 

Nantaquaus. Son of the chief 
Powhatan, 33 

Nantena. Spirits or fairies, in 
Tinneh mythology, 358 

Napi. The creative deity of the 
Blackfeet ; in a day-and-night 
legend, 205, 208 ; in the legend 
of Buffalo-stealer, 208-212 

Narragansets. a tribe of the 
Algonquian stock, 25 

Narvaez, Panfilo de. And the 
Muskhogean people, 27 

Natchez. I. The city ; discoveries 
of prehistoric remains at, 7. 
II. A tribe of the so-called 
Natchesan stock ; and earth- 
mounds, 21 ; and the eagle, 112 

Navaho. a tribe of the Atha- 
pascan stock, 22 ; a dwelling of, 
49 ; costume of, 59 ; belief of, 
respecting birds and the winds, 
1 10 ; Ahsonnutli the chief deity 
of, 121-122 ; belief of, respect- 
ing the soul, 129 ; and the 
points of the compass, 131 

Nebraska. Prehistoric remains 
discovered in, 8 

Nekumonta. An Iroquois brave ; 
in the legend of the Healing 
Waters, 257-260 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Nemissa. a Star-maiden ; in the 
story of Cloud-carrier, 1 56-1 59 

New Orleans. Prehistoric re- 
mains discovered at, 7 

New York. State of ; conflict 
between Indians and the early 
settlers in, 30 

Nez Percys. A tribe of the 
Sahaptian stock ; dwellings of, 

47 
NiPARAYA. A supreme deity of 

the Pericues, 355-356 
NiPMUCs. A tribe of the Algon- 

quian stock, 25 
NocuMA. A creative deity of the 

Acagchemems, 352-353 
NoKAY. A noted Chippeway 

hunter; hunting exploit of, 

54 

NooTKAS. A tribe of the Nootka- 
Columbia stock ; dwellings of, 
47 ; Quahootze, a deity of, 
100 

NoPATSis. A brave; in the legend 
of the origin of the Beaver 
Medicine, 184-187 

Norsemen. Discovery of America 
by, 13-14, 16; early voyages 
of, to America, 14-16 ; left no 
traces of their occupation, 16 

NoTTOWAYS. A tribe of the Iro- 
quois stock, 23 

Nunne Chaha. a hill mentioned 
in the Muskhogean creation- 
myth, 108 



Ohio, I. The State; primitive 
implements found in, 7 ; earth- 
mounds found in, 17, 18. 11. 
The river ; attempt to maintain 
as Indian boundary, 2 5 

Ojibways. Same as Chippeways, 
which see 

Okinai. In the story of Bearskin- 
woman, 183-184 

Okulam (Noise of Surge). Name 
given to giant in Chinook myth 
of the Thunderer, 335 

Olchones. a Californian tribe ; 
sun identified with supreme 
deity by, 350 



Old Man Above. I. Name for 
supreme deity among Califor- 
nian tribes, 348. II. The 
Chareya of the Cahrocs, 3 50 

Old White Bear. Chief of the 
Bear tribe, in Cherokee myth, 
249 

Omahas. a tribe of the Siouan 
stock ; dwellings of, 48 ; Icti- 
nike a war-god of, 266 

One Above. Name for supreme 
deity among Californian tribes, 
348 

Oneidas. a tribe of the Iroquois 
stock, 24, 224, 225 ; inaugu- 
rate the federation of the Five 
Nations, 226 

Onniont. a mythological ser- 
pent, 91 

Onondagas. a tribe of the Iro- 
quois stock, 224 ; Hiawatha 
probably belonged to, 223 ; war 
with Caniengas and Hurons, 
225 ; Atotarho a chief of, 225 ; 
and Hiawatha's federation 
scheme, 226 

Orenda. Magical power, 112 

Osages. a tribe probably of the 
Algonquian stock ; dwelUngs of. 
48 

Otter-heart. The story of, 165- 
170 

Ouiamot. Same as Chinigchinich, 
which see 

OuioT (Dominator). I. A demi- 
god of the Acagchemems, 351- 
352. II. A tyrannous] ruler, 

353-354 . , 

Owl, The. Indian veneration for, 

113 



Pahe-Wathahuni (The Devour- 
ing Hill). The story of the 
Rabbit and, 302-303 

Paiutes. a tribe of the Yunian 
stock ; houses of, 47 

Palmer, Captain G. Work by, 
quoted, 3-4 

Pamola. An evil spirit, in Algon- 
quian myth ; conquered by 
Glooskap, 145 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Pawnees. A confederacy of 
tribes of the Caddoan stock, 
28, 304 ; and the tribal fetish 
of the Cheyenne, 91 ; and 
thunder, 112; Atius Tirawa. 
the chief deity of, 122 ; and 
the Young Dog Dance, 190 ; 
subdued by the Iroquois, 227 ; 
strong religious sense of, 304 ; 
myths and legends of, 304-31 1 ; 
story of the origin of their 
Sacred Bundle, 304-308 

Payne, E. J. On resemblance of 
customs of American and Asiatic 
tribes, 10- 11 

Peace Queen. A maiden ap- 
pointed by the Five Nations to 
be arbiter of quarrels ; the 
legend of Genetaska the, 262- 
265 ; the office abolished, 26'; 

Pebble-rattler. Haida wind- 
deity ; in the story of Master- 
carpenter and South-east, 318 

Pequots. a tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock ; feud between the 
whites and, 30 

Pericues. a Californian tribe ; 
the hostile divinities of, 355-356 

Petit Anse. Place in Louisiana ; 
prehistoric remains discovered 
at, 7 

Philip. An Indian chief, called 
' King Philip ' ; war of, with the 
whites, 30-31 

Picture-writing, Indian, 76-78 

Pigmies. Iroquois belief in a race 
of, 229 ; a legend of. 246-248 ; 
perhaps actually a prehistoric 
American race, 248 

PiMAS. A tribe of the Pueblo 
stock ; costume of, 59 ; method 
of keeping records, 133 

Pipe-stone Quarry. Source of 
the Indian's pipe; description 
of, 1 16-118 

Plagub Demon. Iroquois deity, 
264 

Plains Indians. Costume of, 58 ; 
artistic work of, 62 ; rank 
among, indicated by feathers 
worn, 63 ; marriage among, 73 

Pocahontas. Daughter of the 
chief Powhatan ; the story of, 
32-36 

388 



PoiA (Scar-face). The legends oi, 
196-205 

Porcupine. One of the Porcu- 
pine People, in Haida myth ; 
story of the conflict between 
Beaver and, 318-320 

Po-shai-an-K'ia. a Zufii deity, 
father of the ' medicine ' so- 
cieties, 95 ; in creation -myth, 
107 

Powell, Captain Nathaniel. 
And the story of Pocahontas, 
32-36 

Powers, Stephen. On evil spirits 
in Indian mythology, 349-350 

Powhatan. A chief, father of 
Pocahontas, 32, 33 

Powhatans. a tribe of the 
Algonquian stock, 25 ; belief 
of, respecting birds, 110. 

Pratt, Captain R. H. His school 
for the education of Indian 
children, 79 

Prehistoric Remains. Dis- 
coveries of, 7-10 

Prey Brothers. A priesthood of 
the Zuni, 96 

Prey -gods. Deities of the Zuni, 

94-97 
Priesthood of the Indian tribes, 

135-136 

Prince of Serpents. A deity 
who dwelt in the Great Lakes, 
112, 113 

Pueblos. I. An ethnic division 
of the American Indians ; build- 
ings of, 47, 49 ; costume of, 
57. 59 ; artistic work of, 63 ; 
festivals of, 135. II. Indian 
community houses, 46, 48 

PusHKiTA. A festival of the 
Creeks, 134 



Q 



QuAAYAYP. A son of the Pericue 
deity Niparaya, 355 

QuAH-BEET (Great Beaver). Al- 
gonquian totem-deity ; in myth 
of Glooskap and Malsum, 142 

QuAHOOTZE. Deity of the Nootkas, 
100 

QuAPAws. A tribe of the Caddoan 
stock; and earth -mounds, 21 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



R 

Rabbit. Personified animal in 
Sioux myth ; Ictinike and, 266- 
268 ; and the Sun, 301-302 ; 
and Pahe-Wathahuni, the De- 
vouring Hill, 302-303 

Rafn, K. C. Cited, 14; and the 
Dighton Writing Rock, 16 

Rattlesnake. Indian regard for 
the, 1 1 3-1 1 5 

Raven. Personification in Chi- 
nook myth ; in the story of 
Stiktia, 342-348 

Red Pipe-stone Rock. The first 
pipe made at, 116 

Red-storm-cloud. A Haida 
wind-deity ; in the story of 
Master-carpenter and South- 
east, 317 

Reservations, Indian, 31-32 

Resurrection. Indian belief in, 
128 

Robin. A deity of the Chinooks, 
brother of Blue Jay, 125, 330, 
332 

RoGEL, Father. Incident con- 
nected with his missionary 
work, 105 

Rolfe, John. Husband of 
Pocahontas, 32 

Root-diggers. A tribe of the 
Shoshonean stock, 28 



Sacred Bundle. The story of 

the, 304-308 
Sacred Otter. A hunter ; in the 

story of the Snow-lodge, 150- 

152 
Salish Indians. A tribe probably 

of the Algonquian stock ; houses 

of, 47 ; costume of, 58 
Salmon. The story of, 282-285 
Santees. a tribe of the Siouan 

stock, 28 
Sassacus. Pequot chief; his vil- 
lage destroyed, 30 
Sauks. a tribe of the Siouan 

stock, 71 
Sayadio. a young Wyandot 

brave ; the legend of, 260-262 



Scalping. Nature of the act, 66 ; 
preservation of scalps, 67 

Scar-face. See Poia 

Schoolcraft, H. R. On Indian 
hunting, 52-55 ; on Indian 
warfare, 66-72 ; on the Indian's 
use of tobacco, and his pipe, 
1 1 5-1 18; and the identity of 
Hiawatha, 223 

Secotan. An Indian village in 
North Carolina, 48 

Seminoles. a tribe of the Mus- 
khogean stock, 27 ; costume of, 
58 

Senecas. a tribe of the Iroquois 
stock, 225, 226 ; the so-called, in 
Oklahoma, 24 ; join the Grand 
League, 226; story of the origin 
of the ' medicine ' of, 230-232 ; 
legend of, 236-238 

Serpent, The. In Indian mytho- 
logy, 109-111, 114; worship of, 
112-114; reverence paid to, 

135 

Shadow-land. Same as Spirit- 
land, which see 

Shanewis. Wife of Nekumonta ; 
in the legend of the Healing 
Waters, 257-260 

Shawnees. a tribe of the Algon- 
quian stock, 25 ; as mound- 
builders, 21 ; and the King of 
Rattlesnakes, 248 

Shoshoneans (Snakes). An ethnic 
division of the American In- 
dians, 28-29 ; costume of, 59 

Shushwap Indians. A Srlish 
tribe ; Coyote the creative deity 
of, 124 

Silver Chain. Name applied to 
the Grand Council of the league 
of the Five Nations, 226 

S!n. Sky -god and principal deity 
of the Haida ; myth of the 
incarnation of, 314-316 

SiNNEKES. One of the two political 
divisions of the Iroquois, 224, 
225 

Sioux, or Dakota. An ethnic 
division of the American In- 
dians, 28, 266 ; superstition of, 
resembles that of the Itelmians 
of Kamchatka, 11 ; dwellings 
of, 48 ; face-painting among, 

2 3^9 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



61-62 ; war-customs of, 68 ; 
fetishes of, 93 ; belief of, re- 
specting the winds, 1 10 ; and 
the eagle, 1 1 1 ; and the rattle- 
snake, 114; Haokah, the chief 
thunder-god of, 125 ; Wau- 
kheon, a thunder -god of, 126; 
Unktahe, the water-god of, 
126; and the soul's journey 
after death, 129 ; the year of, 
132 ; methods of time-reckon- 
ing of, 132-133 ; myths and 
legends of, 266-303 

SiRouT (Handful of Tobacco). 
One of the first men, in an 
Acagchemem creation - myth, 
353 

SiTS-BY-THE-DOOR. The story of, 
193-196 

SKRiELiNGR. JSTamc given by 
Norsemen to American natives, 
13 ; attack the early Norse 
voyagers, 15 

Skull, Deformation of the. 
Practised by the Muskhogean 
peoples, chiefly by Choctaws, 
27 ; among the Chinooks, 322 

Sky-country. In a version of the 
story of Poia, 201-205 

Sky-god. Of the Haida — see Sin 

Slocum, Frances. The story of, 

37-45 
Smoke-eater. A being with 

magical powers, in Chinook 

myth, 330 
Smoking among the Indians, 115- 

118; legend of the origin of, 

116 ; importance of, in Indian 

life, 131 
Snake-ogre, The story of the, 

278-282 
Snake-wife. The story of the, 

287-292 
Snow-eodge. The story of the, 

149-152 
SoKUMAPi. A young brave; in 

Blackfoot story of the origin of 

the Bear-spear, 187-190 
SoTO, Hernando de. And the 

Muskhogean people, 27 
Soul. The journey of the, after 

death, in Indian belief, 129 
Souls, The Land of. In the 

legend of Sayadio, 260-261 



South-east. A Haida deity 
representing the south-east 
wind ; contest of, with Master- 
carpenter, 316-318 
Spider Man. In the legend of 

Poia, 201, 202 
Spirit-bride. The story of the, 

162-165 
Spirit-land. Abode of mortals 
after death, 129-130 ; the 
lesser soul of sick persons taken 
to, 129, 139-140 ; 'visits' of 
medicine-men to, 139-140 ; in 
the story of the Spirit-bride, 
162-165 ; in the story of 
Sayadio, 260-261 ; loi and Blue 
Jay in, 324-326 
Sqa-i. a town in the Queen 
Charlotte Islands ; the contest 
of Master-carpenter and South- 
east at, 316-318 
Squier, E. G. And the earth- 
mounds, 18 
Star-boy. First name of Poia, or 

Scar-face, 201, 203 
Star-country, The. In the story 
of Algon, 155-156; in the 
story of Cloud-carrier, 1 56- 
159; in the story of the Fairy 
Wives, 173 
Star-maiden. The story of the, 

152-156 
Stikua. Wife of Blue Jay ; the 

story of, 341-348 
Stone Giantess. The story of 

the, 254-257 
Stone Giants. A malignant race, 
in Iroquois myth, 217, 228- 
229, 255-257 
Styles, Dr. And the Dighton 

Writing Rock, 16 
Summer. Queen of the Elves of 
Light, in Algonquian myth ; 
Glooskap and, 148-149 
Sun, The. In Indian creation- 
myth, 106; worship of, 113, 
350 ; in Sioux myth, the Rabbit 
and, 301-302 
Sun Dance. Blackfoot ceremony 
for the restoration of the sick ; 
Poia brings the secrets of, to 
the Blackfeet, 204 
Sun-Children. Extract from the 
story of the two, 93-94 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Sun-country. In the story of 
Scar -face, 198-200 

SuN-GOD. In the stories of Scar- 
face, 197-205 ; in a Blackfoot 
day-and-night myth, 208 ; the 
Sioux deity, Ictinike the son of, 
266 

Supernatural People, The. A 
semi-divine race, 129-130 ; 
Blue Jay and, 124-125, 323- 
324, 327, 329-332 ; Haida 
myth of the origin of certain, 
312-314 ; in Chinook myth, 
323-324, 327-332, 337-338 

SusQUEHANNOCKS. A tribe of the 
Iroquois stock, 23 

Swamp Fight. A battle between 
Indians and whites, 31 

S WANTON, J. R. On totemism, 
84-87 

Sweet Grass Hills. In the 
legend ol Buffalo-stealer, 209 



Ta-ul-tzu-je. An Indian ; the 
fetish of, 90 

Tacu. In Californian myth, 
reputed father of Ouiamot, 354 

Tacullies. a tribe of the Tinneh 
stock; a superstition of, 358 

Takahli. a South American 
tribe ; moral sense of, 98 

Taker -off - of - the - tree - tops. 
Haida wind-deity ; in the story 
of Master-carpenter and South- 
east, 318 

Tarenyawago. Master of cere- 
monies in the Land of Souls ; 
in the legend of Sayadio, 261 

Tawiscara (Dark One). One of 
the twin-gods of the Iroquois, 121 

Tecumseh. An Algonquin chief ; 
war of, with the whites, 2 5 

Tetons. a tribe of the Siouan 
stock, 28 

Texas. Indians of; and earth- 
mounds, 21 

Thorwald. Brother of Leif the 
Lucky ; voyage of, to America, 

15 
Three Tests. The story of the, 
275-278 



Thunder-boys. Twin thunder- 
gods of the Cherokees, 126 

Thunder-gods, Indian, 125-126; 
analogous to thunder-gods of 
the aboriginal Mexican peoples, 
126 

Thunder - men. Man-eating 
beings in Sioux myth ; in the 
story of the Snake-wife, 290- 
292 ; transformed into the 
thunder-clouds, 292 

Thunderer. A supernatural 
being, in Chinook myth, 334- 
338 

Thunderer's Son-in-law. The 
story of the, 332-341 

Thunderers. The people of Hi'- 
nun, the Iroquois thunder-god ; 
a myth relating to, 219-222 

Tidal-wave. Haida storm-deity ; 
in the story of Master-carpenter 
and South-east, 318 

TiHUGUN (My Old Friend). A 
beneficent deity of the Tinneh, 
358 

Time. Indian methods of reckon- 
ing, 131-133 

Tinneh, or D6n6. A division of 
the Athapascan stock, 22, 356 ; 
poverty of, in mythological 
conceptions, 356-357 ; beliefs 
of. 357-358 

Tipi. An Indian tent-dwelling, 
48, 49 

Tippecanoe. Battle of the, 25 

Tlingit. a tribe of the Koluschan 
stock ; houses of, 46-47 

To-MORROw. Haida deity, mother 
of South-east ; in the story of 
Master-carpenter, 318 

Tobacco. Use of, among the 
Indians, 11 5-1 16; legend of 
the origin of smoking, 1 1 5 

Tobet. I. A ceremonial dancer of 
the Acagchemems, 355. II. The 
costume worn by the tobet, 355 

TosAUT. A rock mentioned in 
creation-myth of the Acagche- 
mem tribes, 352, 353 

Totemism. Influence of, upon 
marriage, 73 ; story of an ad- 
venture with a totem, 74-75 ; 
story of a totem-vigil, 75-76 ; 
origin of, among the Indians, 

39' 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



80-81 ; wide extension of, 81, 
82-83 ; development of the 
totem into a deity, 82 ; rules 
of, 83 ; severity of totemic 
rule, 83 ; Swanton on, 84-87 ; 
associated with fetishism, 93 ; 
influence upon the growth of 
' morality,' 102 

TsuL 'Kalu (Slanting Eyes). A 
hunter-god of the Cherokees, 
125-126 

TuPARAN. Same as Wac, which 
see 

TuscARORAS. A tribe of the 
Iroquois stock, 23 ; and the 
twin-gods myth of the Iroquois, 
121 

Twin-gods of the Iroquois, 121 

Tyrker, or Tydsker. In legend 
of Norse voyage to America, 

14. 15 
Tzi-DALTAi. Fetishes of the 
Apaches, 89-90 



U 



Underworld. Sioux story of an 

adventure in, 292-296 
United States Government. 

And the Indians, 32, 79 
Unktahe. Water -god of the 

Dakota, 126 
Utonagan. a totem-spirit ; an 

Indian's adventure with, 74- 

75 



Vancouver, G. And Indian dwell- 
ings, 47 

Virginia. Earth-mounds found 
in, 18 ; wars between whites 
and early settlers in, 29-30 



W 

Wabaskaha. An Omaha brave ; 
the story of, 271-273 

Wabojeeg. An Indian chief ; 
hunting exploit of, 54 ; a war- 
song of, 70-71 



Wabose, Catherine. The adven- 
ture of, 75-76 
Wac. a supreme deity of the 

Pericues, called also Tuparan, 

356 
Wakanda. Adeity of the Omaha; 

in the story of Wabaskaha, 272 ; 

in the story of the Snake-wife, 

288 
Wakinyjan (The Flyers). Sioux 

wind-deities who send storms, 

IIO 

Wales. Legend that North 
American Indians came from, 

4-5 

" Wallum -Olum." Picture-writ- 
ing records of the Leni-Lenape, 
77-78 

War-dance, Indian, 65, 69-70 

Warfare and war-customs, In- 
dian, 63-72 

Wasis. a baby, in Algonquian 
myth ; Glooskap and, 145-146 

Water Manitou. InaChippeway 
legend, 179 

Water-god. Of the Dakota, 126; 
in an Iroquois legend, 286-287 

Waukheon (Thunder-bird). A 
thunder-god of the Dakota, 126 

Wayne, General A., 26 

Weasel. Name of the Fairy 
Wives, 172 

West Wind, The. I. Algonquian 
deity, father of Michabo, 120. 
II. Deity of the Iroquois, 
brother of Hi'nun, 217 ; de- 
stroys the Stone Giants, 228- 
229 

Whale-meat-cutter. A being 
with magical powers, in Chinook 
myth, 330 

White Feather. See Chacopee 

Whites. Familiar name for Euro- 
pean settlers in America ; early 
wars with Indians, 29-31 ; 
early relationship with Indians, 
29-30, 32 ; Blackfoot idea of 
the originator of, 208 

Whitney, Professor J. D. Dis- 
covery of ' Calaveras ' skull by, 8 

Wichita. A tribe of the Caddoan 
stock, 28 ; grass hut of, 48 

Wickiup. An Indian dwelling, 49 

Wigwam. An Indian dwelling, 49 



BC 10^ 



GLOSSARY AND INDEX 



Wilson, Professor D. On the 

Chinooks, 322 
WiN-PE. A giant sorcerer, in 

Algonquian myth ; Glooskap 

and, 143-144 
Wine-land. In legend of Norse 

voyage to America, i 5 
Winnebago. A tribe of the Siouan 

stock ; as mound - builders, 

21 
WiNSLOW, E. On the gods of the 

Indians, 105 
Winter. A giant, in Algonquian 

myth ; Glooskap and, 147-148 
Wisconsin. Earth-mounds found 

in, 17 
Witchcraft. Iroquois belief in, 

229 
Wolf-trail. Indian name for 

the Milky Way, 204 
Women, Indian. Position of, 72- 

73 ; skill of, in weaving, Ji 
Wonderful Kettle. The story 

of the, 251-254 
Wyandots. a tribe of the Iro- 
quois stock ; allied with Algon- 
quian tribes, 25 ; a legend of, 

260-263 



Wyoming. Prehistoric remains 
discovered in, 8 



Yanktons. a tribe of the Siouan 

stock, 28 
Ycaiut (Above). One of the first 

women, in an Acagchemem 

creation-myth, 353 
Young Dog Dance. Legend of 

the origin of the, 190-193 
YucHi. A tribe of the Uchean 

stock ; and earth-mounds, 21 



Zinzendorf, The Count of. 
Story of the rattlesnake and, 
114-11S 

Zuni. a tribe of the Zuiiian 
stock ; fetishism among, 93- 
97 ; creation-myth of, 106- 
107 ; Awonawilona, the chief 
deity of, 106, 121 ; and the 
eagle, 1 1 1 ; and the serpent. 
113 ; the year of, 132 ; dialect 
of the priesthood of, 136 










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